The Atmosfera Famiglia
by MyHobbyIsToRunFromReality
Summary: The Atmosfera is just a regular run of the mill Family in the Alliance. But to the higher up members, there are whispered rumors of the Snow Flame, a lost Flame since the Atmosfera Prima, being found in the daughter of the Seventh Boss, Aurelia. The seventh decides it would be best for his son and daughter to gather their Guardians and fight for the seat. A H.W excuse for Stroller!
1. Chapter 1

"Are you _sure_ I have to do this?" Aurelia asked, looking at the school in front of her. Even at the ripe age of five, she knew that it would be easier for her, an Atmosfera candidate to be assassinated here. Adrian looked over to her from the driver's seat.

"Aurelia, you hold the Snow Flame. I can't count the number of times we thought you were missing or kidnapped because of its Camouflage Attribute. You'll be fine, just don't attract attention. Make some friends too, fit in, and just don't stand out."

"When do I ever?" Aurelia asked, leaving the car and tugging on her tiger backpack—something cute to make her seem like the other girls.

The class was loud when everyone entered; they all knew each other from earlier years. Aurelia bit her lip and tugged her beanie a bit lower. The desks were assigned and they already had their names written on a tag on it. Aurelia found her desk, in the corner, next to a window. Just makes it so much easier to be invisible.

"Alright everyone, please take your seats!" A blonde lady with nice eyes called out, "I'm Ms. Augusto, your new teacher! Now, everyone say hi to your tablemates!"

Aurelia looked over to a redhead next to her. He looked at her and she could see green eyes. Aurelia was surprised he was able to see her. "Hi, I'm Xavier Bailey."

"…I'm Aurelia White."

"Ah, Zack, I'm sorry, but you can't wear hats in class." Ms. Augusto told a boy in the front. He nodded and took of his hat. Xavier looked at Aurelia, then Ms. Augusto then back at Aurelia.

"Ms. Augusto, then does that mean Aurelia has to take off her hat too?"

Ms. Augusto looked up. "Oh, who said that?"

"I dunno."

"Who talked?"

"Maybe a ghost…"

"Uh, Xavier talked." Aurelia said.

"Who was that?"

"Maybe they _are_ ghosts!"

"We're not ghosts." Xavier said.

No one showed any indication of acknowledging their existence. Both Aurelia and her new friend sighed.

"We're over here!" Both called at once. The class turned and eventually saw the two.

"Were they there before?!"

"I dunno, but I doubt it!"

"Maybe they really _are_ ghosts!"

Xavier coughed. "Ms. Augusto, I was wondering if Aurelia has to take her hat off too."

The teacher blinked at the sight of the two students and eventually taking in the beanie on Aurelia's head, nodded dumbly.

Aurelia made no move to remove her headwear so Xavier reached over and tugged the hat off. "You should listen to teachers, Aurelia!"

Aurelia took in the kid that was invisible just as much as her and gave a small smile once everybody forgot about their existence once more. "Xavier, do you want to be my friend?"

Xavier nodded after a little thinking. "Yeah, because Aurelia can see me, I think Aurelia will be a good friend."

Aurelia smiled and looked up to listen to Ms. Augusto.

They were to go up and introduce themselves to the other students in the class with social interaction. Names, ages, pets, anything can go in a conversation.

It was safe to say, the students completely forgot about the two in the back even as they stood up and tried to enter the group of kids.

The two gave up after being blatantly forgotten and ignored for the umpteenth time. Aurelia sat down and Xavier frowned.

"They never notice me." Xavier whined, fingering his red hair. "Are they ignoring me? Did I do something bad…?"

Aurelia shook her head. "No, I'm sure you didn't! But, Xavier, do your parents ever look for you when you're standing in front of them?"

Xavier put a finger to his chin in a 'thinking' position. "…Actually, yeah, they do."

'He might have the Snow Flames.' Aurelia thought to herself.

"Ah, do you have any pets?" Aurelia asked.

"Un, I have a doggy."

Aurelia smiled. "I have a pet tiger."

"You have a tiger, really?!" Xavier asked. Aurelia nodded. "Wow! Can I come over and see it sometime?"

Aurelia nodded. "Sure."

"Awesome!" Xavier cried out.

One would've thought that if two hardly noticeable kids stuck together, they would've attracted more attention. This seemed to be the exact opposite to the two invisible 'ghost' kids. They were able to continue talking to each other until the lunch for bell rang. They then noticed everyone else had all their books out and were in the middle of reading something.

They had lunch together and when someone laughed at them and said they had cooties, they would merely 'disappear' sort of speak. It was fun, Aurelia decided, having a friend other than Ghiaccio.

When Adrian came to pick up the little heiress, he expected her to come out alone, pouting slightly and wishing to be homeschooled.

However, instead, the little miss ran out happily, a boy with fiery red hair chasing after her and laughing as well.

Adrian blinked as the second he saw them both, they both disappeared from sight. However years of living with the miss came in handy as Adrian merely took a deep breath and focused to see past her undeveloped Snow Flames.

Once again, he was surprised to see the flaming headed boy with her also, standing in front of him.

"Adrian!" Aurelia cried out, tugging the boy nearby. "This is Xavier! He's my friend! I promised to show him Ghiaccio tomorrow, so can he come over?"

Adrian blinked, surprised that there was someone outside of the Atmosfera that could see Aurelia. "…If he's a friend of the little miss, I don't see why not."

"Yay, thank you mister," Xavier cheered. "Oh, I better go find my dad."

"Isn't it normally the other way around?" Adrian asked. Xavier shrugged.

"Papa can never see me. Aurelia's the first one to see me, ever!" Xavier announced. He saw a man and his smile fell slightly. "Ah, there he is bye, Aurelia!"

"Bye bye Xavier!" Aurelia said as Xavier ran over to the man and tugged on his jacket, shocking him enough to fall over.

* * *

"You made a friend?" Narcissus asked, braiding his younger sister's hair neatly. And if anyone were to see him now, no, he was not gay, he just had a very strong sister complex that willed him to follow her every wish.

If it meant braiding her hair and discreetly chasing out other maids so _he_ was the one to do it, then so be it.

"Uh-huh," Aurelia said, petting Ghiaccio. "He's coming over tomorrow to play!"

Narcissus started. "Oh, that's nice—wait, you said he."

Aurelia nodded. "Yeah, his name is Xavier!"

It took all of his discipline training not to let out a killer aura then and there. "What does he look like?"

Aurelia smiled and put a finger to her chin in the thinking pose she saw Xavier do today. "He has really, really red hair and green eyes! And he's like me; people can never really see him."

Narcissus blinked. "Wait, really?"

Aurelia nodded. "Uh-huh!"

Narcissus sighed. His sister was bad enough; there was a time when they were four and seven and everyone thought Narcissus abandoned Aurelia when they were on a walk and they wouldn't let him in until he brought her with him. She was with him the entire time, the butlers and maids just didn't see her because of how invisible she was.

Narcissus tied the end of the last braid. "And…it's finished."

"Thanks, Narci!" Aurelia said, holding her arms out. Narcissus picked her up and tucked her into bed. He lifted up the covers so Ghiaccio could get in.

He was met with a set of claws to the face.

"Ow!"

"Oh, Ghiaccio is playing! It's too late for wrestling, Ghiaccio! It's time to sleep!" Aurelia said, patting the spot next to her. The white tiger cub yawned and lay with his master.

Once again, Narcissus seriously wondered _how_ his sister managed to tame such a moody cat.

Narcissus sighed and gave his sister a quick kiss. "Buona notte, sorella,"

"Buona notte, fratello," Aurelia whispered back as Narcissus stood up and left.

"…That was _really_ touching, Narcissus." Axel said, leaning on the wall opposite of his sister's door. "Funny how the whole mafia deems you a bratty scum that is destined to become a backstabber while your Family and sister love you and know you as a hero that sacrificed a position to better your Family."

Narcissus rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Axel; anyway, I have something to ask; if you were to say, threaten a five year old boy to not harm your sister and not scar him for life, how would you go along with doing that?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Is this hypothetically speaking?"

"Depends,"

"Well," Axel started. "No weapons or flames, that's for sure,"

Narcissus discreetly cursed under his breath.

"No cursing if he's only eight."

The grey haired boy growled.

"And no death threats, for sure."

Narcissus pouted and kicked a wall, careful not to wake his sister.

"I suppose it would have to go something like this," Axel began, switching his voice. "'So, little boy, do you like my sister—Don't worry, I won't tell—I'll only let you like her if you take _really_ good care of her, understand?' Something more or less like that, I guess."

Narcissus frowned. "Doesn't sound good enough; it makes me look soft."

"You're as mushy as a melted marshmallow when it comes to your sister; this is no different matter. And they're only five. If it was something like, I don't know, marriage, then I guess you could scare him away, but they're only five and friends right now. Take it easy, Narcissus."

The boy sighed and nodded reluctantly.

* * *

"Xavier," Aurelia cried out, nearly tackle-hugging the redhead. Said boy stumbled and fell forward. "Oh, sorry, Xavier; are you ok?"

Xavier nodded and stood up. "Yeah, so can I see your pet tiger today?"

Aurelia nodded. "Uh-huh, I told Ghiaccio and he was really happy—he was so excited he even started to wrestle my brother!"

Xavier blinked and nodded and sat down.

"Sam?"

"Here,"

"Christian?"

"Here,"

"Xavier?"

"Here,"

Ms. Augusto looked up and looked around for the boy. "Uh, Xavier, are you here?"

"Here"

Ms. Augusto looked around some more and frowned. Xavier's eye twitched slightly and he raised his hand and shouted out, "HERE!"

Ms. Augusto looked in his direction and blinked before nodding and writing something on the attendance while the class looked at Xavier and Aurelia like they just saw them.

"Were they here yesterday?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Oh yeah, they're the ghosts!"

Aurelia sighed and the disappearing act began.

"Wow, where did they go?"

"They disappeared already?"

"Are you sure they really are students? Maybe they really _are_ ghosts…"

Xavier made a face that was somewhere in between a pout and a scowl. "We're not ghosts, right, Aurelia?"

The girl shook her head, her beanie moving slightly out of place. "Nope; hey, how come you never talk about your family, Xavier?"

"Ah, well, they _really_ don't know me. I know they don't mean it, but most of the time, they forget they even have a son, so I usually just go around playing pranks and stuff until I get sleepy." Xavier admitted. He smiled then. "Like this! When I make something up in my head, it becomes real sometimes; watch!"

Xavier's brow furrowed and a small one eyed monster alien thing began to dance on their shared table. Aurelia made an astonished face and Xavier smiled, happy that he managed to impress his friend.

"Wow, so you're an illusionist!" Aurelia murmured under her breath. "You must be a Mist and Snow then…"

"Huh?" Xavier asked. "What was that, Aurelia?"

"Nothing—my brother's friend can do this too, but he could_ never_ do it when he was our age. You must be really good, Xavier! Actually, I know someone who can teach you more about these too; these are called illusions and you're an illusionist!"

Xavier blinked. "Really; I thought I was a magician…"

"You _are_ a type of magician, Xavier, I'll try to get my brother's friend to teach you more when you come over, how about it?"

Xavier smiled and nodded. "That sounds nice!"

The two spent the rest of the day playing with illusions, Aurelia giving him ideas and urging him to make them solid and not just visions, she tried to explain it to her best capabilities but the most solid thing Xavier could conjure up was a flower that was just barely solid.

Aurelia dragged Xavier over to Adrian at the end of the day, and he blinked in surprise upon seeing the two. "Ah, so he's coming with us, right?"

Aurelia nodded and Xavier tugged her hand. "Ne, Aurelia, your dad is really big."

Aurelia giggled. "Adrian is like my uncle, he's not my Papa."

"Oh…" Xavier said while climbing in the black car Aurelia ran into. "So he's kind of like an uncle…"

Aurelia nodded. "Uh-huh. Oh, oh, Adrian, guess what!"

"What, little miss?" Adrian asked, starting the car.

"Xavier is an illusionist!"

Adrian jumped in shock and nearly hit an old lady with a cane that began to curse violently at him. "Really; young miss's friend is an illusionist!?"

"Uh-huh!" Aurelia said. "He gave me a flower, see?" she held up said flower happily, yet it began to fade. Aurelia still smiled. "Ne, ne, do you think I can make Xavier my Mist Guardian?"

"Mist Guardian," Xavier repeated slowly. "That's uh, one of the Guardians you were talking about, right? The Mist 'hides the Family' right?"

Aurelia nodded. "Uh-huh, it's something like that!"

Xavier thought hard then smiled. "I would like to be a Mist Guardian, then!"

Adrian's eye twitched and the Lightning Guardian wondered how he would explain to his boss that Aurelia not only found another invisible Snow user, but a illusionist as well, who wanted to be Aurelia's Guardian.

He wasn't even in the mafia.

"Uh, Aurelia," Adrian started. "Does Xavier know that if he's your Mist Guardian, he's going to be part of the scary Mafia?"

Xavier thought this over. "Hm, well I don't mind! Because the mafia isn't always bad! They protect people too—the uh, Vongola…C-Cavallone, and uh… A-oh, right! Atmosfera Famiglias really helped my family once! They might do bad things sometimes, but they are nice people! If I'm part of the mafia by being Aurelia's Mist Guardian, then I don't mind because Aurelia is a nice person too!"

Adrian listened to this aptly. He then smiled and parked the car. "We're here, little miss and her Mist Guardian. I shall inform young master Narcissus to escort the two of you and explain your role in the family along with his Mist Guardian, young master David."

* * *

The eight and seven year old boys found the two five year olds playing with Ghiaccio, who was lying on top of the boy's stomach. After eventually seeing them, Narcissus not so discreetly gaped at the red hair that the boy bore and David observed the boy while munching on a bag of cookies.

"Yo, Aurelia," David said casually, tossing another bag of cookies at the two. "You and your friend eat up."

The two kids giggled and pulled the bag open before devouring the sweet treats inside and Narcissus sat down next to the boy.

"So," Narcissus started, looking over at the boy who quite blatantly just announced his desire to be his sister's Mist Guardian that would've quite simply been handed to him on a silver platter due to the fact he had Snow Flames. "What's your name?"

The boy swallowed. "Xavier, Xavier Bailey."

"Xavier, Are you _sure_ you want to be Aurelia's Mist Guardian? It's a tough job and things could get really bad. Your family might get involved."

Xavier seemed to mull this over a bit. "Yup; I really think Aurelia's a good person. She's not only the first person to see me, but I think if she's mafia then she must be good like the Atmosfera Settimo that helped my family. If my family gets involved, then I'll leave them; they don't notice me anyway, so they forget they have a son. I am willing to be a part of the Atmosfera as Aurelia's Mist Guardian so I can help people like the mafia did for me!"

"And what did the mafia do for you?" David asked.

"My brother got in trouble with the Carcassa; they said to give up a family member or else they would kill everyone in our heritage and burn our home to the ground. My dad knew someone from the Cavallone, though. They told the Vongola because they are really strong and the Atmosfera, because we live in their area. My sister was going to sacrifice herself but then the Vongola, Cavallone and the Chiavarone came in and they took out all the Carcassa. If I ever had to leave my family to serve one of them, I would!" Xavier said strongly. Narcissus's eyes widened before he smiled and pet his head, ruffling the red locks.

"Welcome, Xavier, to the Atmosfera as Aurelia's Mist Guardian. We welcome you with open arms."

* * *

"Man, Aurelia, this stinks." Xavier whined, tugging at his collar. "No one's seeing us and if they do, they get all freaked out and call us ghosts; it's like school all over again." The now eight year old redhead said, sighing through his nose.

"Well I don't like this either." Aurelia said, pulling her dress up as it slipped down once more. "It's customary for Mafia families to hold balls and parties often to show class."

"And money, and power, and wealth, and friendliness." Xavier listed, counting off his fingers. "I know, I know."

"I'm going to catch your whininess if I stick around; I'm going to get a bite."

"You know you love me; I'm your childhood friend." Xavier said, yawning with a lazy smile.

Aurelia rolled her eyes and made her way towards the snack table and ate several appetizers. She turned to bring some smoked salmon and Salisbury steak (Xavier and Ghiaccio's favorites, respectively) when an older boy, maybe Narcissus's age, which was eleven, more or less, crash into her clumsily and spill his cranberry juice on her white dress.

"A-AH, I-I'M SORRY!" The boy cried out, attracting attention from the guests. "I-It was my fault!"

"Aurelia, what's wrong…" Narcissus ended weakly upon seeing the black-haired boy that was currently apologizing and blushing and sweating and stuttering and basically making a huge mess trying to help Aurelia up, apologize, and attempt to clean off her dress all at the same time.

"Oh, isn't he the fourth in line of Pesca?"

"Yes, what a shame,"

"Rumor is he doesn't even have a Sky flame. Drawing so much attention too…"

"How embarrassing,"

"I'd be humiliated too, if _he_ had to inherit _my_ family."

"Boss lady," Xavier called out, shoving his way through and seeing the blushing boy trying to fight back tears and Aurelia with red stains on her dress. "What's up? Something…happen…"

Xavier trailed off as he saw the boy shaking and he focused his eyes on the older boy. It was as if he was beginning to disappear, like fade away out of embarrassment and frustration. But instead of illusions making him fade, it was more as if he was merely blending in; camouflaging.

Aurelia saw this too. He saw her look at him with a look that saw it too. He had a Snow Flame.

"Hercules," A voice shouted out angrily. "What's going on here, what did you do?!"

"A-Ah, w-well, I just…" The boy, Hercules, apparently, stuttered, the disappearing act removing all trace. The man, big and muscular glared down at him.

"Apologize; that is the Atmosfera Heiress, Aurelia, you little runt!" The man growled out. Hercules shook and turned to Aurelia.

"I-I'm s-sorry…" Hercules said, looking down at the young girl. Narcissus looked at his sister. She had that look in her eye…

The look she got before she did something that would make him punch a wall in frustration.

"No problem, Hercules, right?" Aurelia chirped. Her eyes narrowed at the boy in front of her before smiling and nodding. She turned to Xavier and motioned him forward. She then took Hercules's hand and dragged him to Narcissus who he stood eye to eye to. "Fratello; I think I just found my Storm Guardian!"

Narcissus's expression was so priceless, Xavier cracked up.

Hercules, hearing the young girl's exclamation, fainted.

The man looked at his unconscious son to Aurelia and back at his son. "Y-You, you want my useless son as a Storm Guardian?"

Aurelia nodded. "Yup, he has something very special that the Pesca doesn't know about and can't use! Plus, he's a Storm flame, right? Can I have him in my family?"

The Pesca boss only nodded furiously, not quite comprehending what just happened. Aurelia smiled.

Narcissus proceeded to blink numerous times.

* * *

"Ugh…" Hercules groaned, rubbing his head. "Did Antonio spike my drink…?"

"Nope, you just passed out in front of the whole alliance."

Hercules jumped and looked at the blur in front of him before looking around for his glasses. The blur handed him the lenses, which he put on. He saw the Atmosfera heiress in front of him.

"Oh god, I'm so, _so_ sorry for what happened, and—wait, I passed out?"

The girl in front of him nodded. "Yup, after I said I wanted you to be my Storm Guardian."

Hercules was about to faint once again but Aurelia handed him an envelope. "This was from your father and brothers."

Hercules opened it and found four different sheets of paper.

_'Hercules, this is the best thing that could happen to you. Being the Storm Guardian of the Atmosfera gives you great possibilities. I will wish you the best of luck and hope you don't screw up. The Atmosfera heiress, Aurelia White said that you were asked for the position because you have something that only they can utilize. Good luck._

_P.S. If you reject the offer and come back home, I will disown you. Have fun._

_-Father'_

Hercules greatly wished his father would get bent.

_'Little bro, you can't really do much better than this offer. Take it and don't be an idiotic fool. It's not as if you could become the boss to the Pesca, being a Storm flame and all, anyway. This is the best for you and the Family. Reject this and I will hunt you down, you little worm._

_-Sergio'_

For the first in line of the Pesca, Sergio was a huge jerk. Hercules thought, mentally imagining his brother's fall from power when he took the seat as the boss.

_'Yo, useless little bro; geez, Sergio and Dad are real stiffs, aren't they? They're going on and on about how you'll probably fail and get kicked out. I'm not disagreeing with them, but I'm going to put more faith on you than that; quite honestly, a Storm specializes in mid-range, and that's your forte, little bro. Mom would've fought more, though._

_-Your lovely big brother, Antonio'_

The only sibling he shared a mother with. They were close due to this fact yet Antonio still teased him and blamed him for things, though less than his other brothers and father. He was the favorite older brother and the most eligible heir to the Pesca; unlike Sergio who only focused on the Family itself and not the members.

_'Hercules, I'm seriously wondering how a little shit like you got the Storm position of the Atmosfera. Seriously, who did you pay? Oh well. Anyway, I blamed breaking in Dad's computer on you, so don't be surprised if you don't get most of your things back. Oh, and I'm in a betting pool that you'll last a week until you get kicked out; do your bro a favor._

_-Damien'_

The worst of all the brothers, the one that spent the Family's funds getting high or drunk or hiring girls. Damien got on his nerves the most. His mother was a whore that father got drunk with while he was still with mother. She nearly divorced the man, had it not been for Antonio, and later on had Hercules.

Aurelia watched as Hercules pocketed one and tore the rest up. She then watched as he nearly turned invisible out of anger or frustration or depression. Or maybe even all three.

"Hercules," Aurelia started. "So do you want to be my Storm?"

Hercules looked at her. "But why; why would you want _me_?"

Aurelia smiled. "Because you have something really special, Hercules; you're invisible, aren't you? It's kind of weak I guess, but it's there."

"Invisible…?"

"You," Aurelia started. "Have the Snow Flames and the Storm Flames. You were destined to be in the Atmosfera."

* * *

"Hm, Xavier, what're you looking at?" Aurelia asked, seeing her Mist look through a shop window.

"Oh, nothing," Xavier said, walking away. Aurelia got a quick glance at the shop window. He was looking at jewelry, more specifically, earrings.

"Xavier, you want your ears pierced?" Aurelia asked, catching up to her friend.

"Nothing, I said," Xavier whined. "Where's Hercules anyway? I thought he was going to spend time with us today; you know, get to know his fellow Guardian and Sky."

"Ah, he had to go get his things from his house; his dad wouldn't give him his things for some reason."

"You got any clue as to why?" Xavier asked.

"Said something about bastard illegitimate older brothers,"

Xavier blinked. "What?"

"I dunno. But hey, your birthday is coming up, isn't it?" Aurelia asked, looking at the redhead that surprisingly enough didn't attract attention with his flaming hair while she had to wear a hat to cover her grey roots and keep people from staring.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, want to play a prank?"

"It depends, what kind?"

"I mean loose animals from the zoo kind of prank."

"Illusions only,"

"Fine,"

Aurelia smiled as the zoo security were running around yelling "Who let the animals out?!" and Xavier held out a corndog. She took it with a smile as the guards ran around looking for the two when they were right in front of them.

"I have to go get something, Xavier, bye." Aurelia said, leaving the park to go to the jewelry store that they passed earlier. She walked in after making sure she wasn't followed and looked through the store for a nice, expensive earring for her friend that she knew he would never let her hear the end of if he found out the price.

She saw a sparkly diamond one but shook her head. It seemed too flashy for even Xavier.

And then a platinum one that seemed to glow but she pouted. While it did seem a bit flashy, it was somewhat too plain for Xavier.

She was beginning to look through all the earrings, when Narcissus walked inside with Axel. "Aurelia, what's up? Want to get your ears pierced?"

Aurelia shook her head. "I saw Xavier looking at them and I'm trying to pick an expensive one for him."

"Why expensive?"

"To annoy him, I guess."

"Ah," Narcissus nodded. He looked through them. "How would a gold earring do, then?"

Aurelia's eyes lit up and she picked one up. "This is perfect!"

Axel whistled at the price tag. "Xavier would murder you if he saw that price."

Aurelia nodded. "I know. Narcissus, can you get the lady to pack this up?"

"Why do I have to?"

Aurelia looked at him blankly and slammed her hand on the glass display noisily.

No one looked up.

"Ah, right, Snow flames." Narcissus nodded, taking the earring and asking to buy it.

"Oh, good choice, your girlfriend would love this!" The store clerk said happily.

"I-I don't have a girlfriend."

Axel got an idea and motioned at Aurelia, 'watch this'.

The blonde nunchaku-wielder twisted his arm around the grey-haired Sky. "Oh, honey, you're buying me jewelry already? How thoughtful of you, I'm so lucky to have you!"

Narcissus looked at his Right Hand in what could be described as a look of astonishment and horror.

Aurelia giggled and the clerk blushed. "O-Oh…"

"Gah, no, it isn't like that—"

"Hush now, he's still so shy about being open, you know." Axel said cockily, hanging off of Narcissus.

The eleven year old gawked at the glowing Axel with a face that said "Right hand man say _what_?"

The clerk giggled and handed Narcissus the bag which held the earring and took the money, while Axel dragged Narcissus out, looking at him with 'loving' eyes all the while. Once they got outside, the blonde boy began to piss himself laughing.

"Y-You, you should've seen your face!" Axel laughed, pointing at the blushing Narcissus and practically dying from lack of oxygen. "O-Oh God, what is air!"

Narcissus seemed to get it together there and he began to kick Axel. "Hurry up and die! Go on, suffocate, Miller!"

Aurelia got bored after they both broke out their weapons and left. She's seen them fight millions of times before, it was no fun anymore.

She wondered how she was going to give Xavier the earring; he didn't have his ears pierced after all…

Oh, but Pierce did! Aurelia thought, remembering her brother's Storm guardian, who coincidentally enough, worked with needles. She ran to the town's weapon shop where she knew Pierce would be. "Pierce! Pierce!"

The brown-haired boy was currently arguing with the shop owner. "Just tell me the damned material it's made from!"

"It's written right _there_!" The shop owner said while pointing at the paper next to the holster Pierce was admiring.

Pierce seemed to grow redder. "Read it to me!"

"What, why would I?!"

Pierce crossed his arms and glared at the wall. Aurelia walked up to the two. "Uh, excuse me…"

"Whoa! Kid when you come in?!"

"Aurelia," Pierce muttered. "What're you doing here?"

"Uh, mister," Aurelia started, "Pierce here, um, he _can't_ read."

Pierce looked like he greatly wished to commit treason and murder Aurelia then and there while the shop owner only blinked. "Well then, why didn't you say so? The material is made with leather from the Bovino and the bullets the holster comes with have several layers of bronze and silver in them."

"O-Oh, uh, thanks." Pierce murmured.

"Geez kid, next time just say you can't read and ask the guy to read it to you." The shop owner said, helping a woman trying to buy a gun.

"Hey Pierce," Aurelia started, "Help me with something."

"What do you want?!" Pierce hissed.

"I need you to help me pierce Xavier's ears for his birthday." Aurelia stated. "He was looking at earrings so I got him one for his birthday, but I don't know how to put it on. You pierced Narcissus's ears on April Fools, right?"

Pierce smiled. "Oh yeah, he got back at me on Easter by putting chickens in my room."

"He put chickens in your room?"

"Yeah, I'm allergic. My face swells up and I can't stop sneezing; it's the feathers."

"How did he get the chickens?"

"I'd rather not know." Pierce shivered. "Anyway, so you want to pierce his ears, or just one?"

"Just one; they're really expensive."

"How expensive are they?" Pierce asked. Aurelia held up the receipt.

Pierce choked. "_This_ much for his earring, are you serious!? Is a decimal point missing somewhere!?"

"If it's expensive, he'll get annoyed."

"Good point." Pierce stated. "Alright, I'll show you how to pierce his ears. I'll get Adrian to spike his drink during dinner tonight, you can pierce it then."

* * *

"Are you sure everything is sterilized?!" Hercules asked. Pierce looked offended.

"I've pierced hundreds of ears, not a single infection; I'm a professional."

"This is _Xavier's_ ears we're talking about. You will go to bed with nightmares every night for _years_ if this get's infected."

"I always keep my needles sterilized, thank you very much. Well… not unless it's assassinations, I rust those purposely, but still."

"Dammit, Pierce what I'm saying is that he won't want an infection for his birthday! He'll get pissed off if you do something wrong!"

The rest merely looked at the bespectacled boy.

"Huh, what do you know, he speaks." Narcissus stated.

"And I thought the only emotion he had was worry." Axel murmured.

"I didn't know he was possible of feeling anger. I guess I owe you twenty." Pierce muttered at Aurelia. David sighed and handed her a twenty.

"Y-You guys bet on me?!" Hercules stuttered.

Aurelia nodded. "Yup, and don't worry, I'll split it with you."

"That's not what I'm concerned about!" Hercules said indignantly.

"Oi, so where's the earring?" Pierce asked Aurelia. She held up a single gold earring and Hercules gaped.

"How much did that cost?!"

Narcissus leaned over and whispered in his ear.

Hercules's glasses cracked. "You are kidding me."

"Anyway," Pierce started, handing Aurelia a black soft-tip pen. "Mark where you're gonna stick the needle."

Aurelia made a small dot on Xavier's earlobe.

"Now, I've sterilized all the needles; they should be as good as, if not better than hospital needles." Pierce said. "You washed you hands, right?"

Aurelia nodded and put on the latex gloves Pierce handed her. "Now put this apple slice behind his ear."

Aurelia placed it behind the ear.

"That's a back stop to make sure the hole doesn't get too big. And use this rubbing alcohol on his earlobe."

Aurelia rubbed the cotton on the earlobe.

"Now push the needle through gently."

Aurelia pressed the needle through the skin until she felt the apple stop it.

"Now replace it with the earring." Pierce said as Aurelia took the needle out and clipped the needle in, cleaning around the edges with the alcohol wipe.

Xavier continued to sleep like a log.

Aurelia and Hercules let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

* * *

A shrill shriek awoke the Atmosfera House the next morning.

"Looks like Xavier found his gift, huh, Ghiaccio?" Aurelia asked her tiger cub, petting the growing cat as he yawned.

"Aurelia White!" The door slammed open. "Why is my ear pierced—"

Ghiaccio wasted no time in mauling the birthday boy for waking him up.

"Aww, Ghiaccio, why are you wrestling so early in the morning?" Aurelia asked as the tiger cub continued to scratch her Right Hand mercilessly.

"You seriously call this wrestling!?" Xavier howled out as he pried Ghiaccio off of him. Aurelia blinked.

"Yeah, what else would it be?"

Xavier sighed. "Why is my ear pierced?"

"It's your birthday gift!" Aurelia said. "I saw you looking at earrings and stuff so I thought you wanted one. I got that earring for you."

"Aurelia; this earring is _solid gold_ with custom cravings. How much did it cost?"

"Not telling." Aurelia said. "But do you like it…?"

"Well, yeah, of course I like it, I've always wanted my ear pierced, but—"

"Really," Aurelia gaped. "How come you've never told me you wanted your ear pierced?"

"Because it never came up; not to mention that you would've gotten my ear pierced the second I said it. How did you even do it anyway?"

"I got Pierce to teach me how."

"Pierce?"

"Yup; he pierced Narcissus's ears last April fools."

"Really; how come he doesn't wear earrings then?"

"He took them out; he didn't want earrings. Said something about how he didn't want to take care of it. Although that actually doesn't really make since because Pierce works part-time in that really high class piercing tattoo parlor place; you know, the one that does the Atmosfera tattoos every generation."

"Well that is true." Xavier muttered. He sighed. "Thanks Aurelia. This means a lot to me."

"Well you're my best friend. You accepted me as a friend despite my position as Atmosfera heiress. You even took the place of my Mist and Right Hand. Thank you Xavier, and happy ninth birthday."

"So," Xavier started. "Since I mean so much to you, can you tell me how much it cost?"

Aurelia froze. She then proceeded to push him out of the way and run away yelling "I'll never tell!"

"Hey, Boss Lady," Xavier called out. "Get back here!"

Aurelia yelled and ran through the halls, the maids and butlers blinking at the fact that they could _see_ the two as they raced to the dining hall.

Aurelia burst in and Xavier followed soon after. "Happy Birthday, Xavier,"

Xavier saw the Seventh and his Guardians, along with Narcissus, Axel, Pierce, David, Hercules, and even some close members of the alliance. There were balloons, a cake, presents, and a banner that said 'Happy Birthday'.

Xavier sniffed and a few drops of salty tears dripped from his face. "You guys…"

"Aurelia told us you never had a birthday party because of your Snow Flames. We decided to change that today." David said, munching on some chips.

Xavier sniffed and wiped his face. "Alright, let's party!"

* * *

"Xavier, there's someone I thought you should meet." Said the Seventh Mist Guardian, Gastro, "This is Viper; he—er—she—uh… is somewhat hard to get close to, but the Seventh thought it would be good to have erm she—he—tutor you to train your illusions." Gastro said.

"Mu, the only reason I'm doing this is because I owe the Atmosfera a debt." Viper sniffed. "If it was something else, this brat wouldn't be able to meet my fees."

The person in front of him wore a cloak and a hood, and showing in Gastro's difficulty with the pronouns, it was hard to identify the person's gender. Judging by height, shoulder width, and voice, Xavier assumed the person was female.

"Viper, you seem like a nice person. Can you teach me illusions really well?" Xavier asked. "I'll be a good student."

"Mu, I'll teach you, but I could teach you better if there was money involved."

"Well I could be a better student if there is a better teacher involved." Xavier countered.

"Mu, I like this kid." Viper said.

* * *

"I give up, I just give up." A twelve year old Hercules announced. "She is _terrible_ with a gun."

Narcissus rolled his eyes and his father blinked. "She can't be _that_ bad."

"She nearly set the gun on fire while polishing it. I don't even know _how_ she does that, it's such a fail it's amazing." Hercules sighed. Aurelia flinched.

"So I'm not the _best_ with a gun." Aurelia sighed. "How about a sword, did I try that?"

"Christian tried teaching you the way of the sword once." The seventh, Alexander said, referring to his Rain. "But you nearly gut him like a fish and he refused to even let you hold a knife at dinner for a month."

"How about we try oriental weapons, there are a lot of those in many variations." Narcissus suggested. "I'm sure Aurelia can't set a Sai or a Kusarigama or a Kama on fire. Now that I think about it, Xavier needs a combat weapon too."

Alexander contemplated this. "That seems like a good idea. I'll have Leo take you lot to Asia tomorrow, and that goes for you too, Narcissus and Hercules."

Narcissus nearly spat out his tea. "Why me; I understand Hercules, but why do I have to go?!"

"Because you need a vacation," All three in the room said to the twelve year old, who began to cry.

"Aurelia, even you—even you think I need a vacation!?"

"Yes, a good long one too, Fratello." Aurelia said.

* * *

"Break, break!" Xavier pleaded, running from the tentacles. "I've already given into the illusion, stop it, Viper!"

"Mu, this is your punishment for giving into the illusion. Have a stronger, more flexible, more versatile mind."

"I'm _trying_," Xavier yelled out. "I lasted ten minutes longer than last time!"

"It doesn't matter if you're gonna die in the end." Viper muttered. Aurelia and Hercules watched from the sides.

"He's getting better." Hercules noted. "He actually came up with that monster thing from the top of his head today."

"Hm, actually I think it's an evolved form of the very first illusion he showed me. He had it dance on the table in school."

"Cute, I guess…?" Hercules trailed off as Xavier dragged himself over for a break.

Aurelia told Xavier of their trip to Asia to find combat weapons and he immediately called out to his tutor who was currently counting money.

"Hey, Viper, you wanna come with us to Asia and look for combat weapons?" Xavier asked. Viper walked over.

"Mu, you're gonna get a weapon already?" Viper asked. Xavier nodded. "Well I have something to do with some others soon so I won't be able to go. But you should choose a weapon that focuses mainly on distracting and defense since your illusions are more offensive." Viper said. "Come on, break's over, we're gonna see how much better we can make that monster thing."

Xavier nodded and followed Viper back into the training room to build more on the monster and make it solid. "Now, you'll have to name it, rather than just call it monster."

Xavier smiled. "Curiosita, I'll name it Curiosita."

* * *

"Boss Lady, this looks cool, huh?" Xavier called out, holding up a Kama. Aurelia smiled.

"Yeah, but remember what Viper said; get one that's kind of flashy."

"Yeah, yeah—oh, I found one!" Xavier cheered, holding up a Kusarigama. "I always thought these were kind of cool; like a chain-hand-scythe-thing."

The owner of the store glared and hit Xavier across the head with his walking stick.

"OW!"

"Learn your weapons, boy! The Kusarigama is nothing like some 'chain-hand-scythe-thing', if you want to buy it, you must respect the weapon for what it is!" The elderly man growled out. A young woman peeked out of the back door.

"Grandpa, treat them well, they're customers!"

"They're not if they can't respect my weapons!" The old store owner growled. "I'll teach you that only the ones to respect a weapon and hold it confidently are able to purchase my art, Shigure!"

The girl in question sighed. "Grandpa, that's why we're always losing customers, you're lucky such high-up people come here to buy weapons!"

"Geez, why'd we come here to get weapons from a bitter old geezer that hits his customers?" Xavier asked sullenly, rubbing his head. Aurelia sighed.

"Have some respect, Xavier, that's Satsuki, he and his family's been supplying the Atmosfera with oriental weapons for generations; his methods may be a bit old school but he's good at what he does." Aurelia sighed, patting the redhead comfortingly. She picked up a fan and slowly opened it.

"Ah, that's a good choice, young lady. A Korean War Fan, it has many different functions and variations. Some have poison, some shoot knives when they're opened, and some have metal ribbons to act as blades; they're quite versatile. Not to mention that they provide great defense when opened and used properly. I've made it to withstand many attacks. It comes in a pack of two with detachable functions of the attacks I've just mentioned." Satsuki said.

Aurelia opened the fan fully and found the open surface was blank white and the material made of what seemed to be silk or satin.

"Oh, have your eyes fooled you?" Satsuki asked. "I've hand woven special chameleon material into the fan myself."

"Chameleon—Grandpa, if you keep on telling people that, they'll never buy it, not to mention you have to put a design or people won't buy something so plain!" Shigure sighed.

'Shape shifting chameleon?' Aurelia mouthed at Satsuki who nodded. Aurelia let out an 'oh' and smiled.

"I'll buy it. I like it plain and it's cool how it has all those functions!" Aurelia smiled.

Satsuki looked at his granddaughter with a look of triumph. "You were saying?"

Shigure sulked and went to ring up the two fans. Xavier held up the Kusarigama. "Oh, oh, me too, I like the Kusarigama!"

Satsuki hit Xavier over the head. "Don't wave a weapon around like that; you'll take someone's eye out!"

"OW!"

Hercules sighed. Satsuki looked at him. "So do you have a weapon?"

"I work with guns; these two—OW!" Hercules yelped upon showing the man his two Berettas and promptly being hit across the head with the cane, like Xavier.

"A _real_ man works with his muscles; the only one _you're _working out is your finger, train like a man, wimp!"

"OW!"

Aurelia sighed. "Guys, don't play too much. I know how much you two love to wrestle."

"You seriously call this wrestling!?" Hercules and Xavier asked, before promptly being hit across the head again.

"Stay still!"

"No!"

"Get away from us!"

"Grandpa, you'll pop your hip again if you run like that!" Shigure called out.

"I'm still young!"

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow…" Hercules muttered as Aurelia bandaged his cheek.

"I'm still wondering how you managed to fall down stairs when Xavier stopped and Satsuki-san stopped because he popped his hip." Aurelia said blankly as the twelve year old boy. He sighed.

"Whatever, 'Lia," Hercules muttered. Aurelia blinked.

"Oh, it's because Satsuki-san and Shigure-san, right? You're always nervous around new people."

"N-No, I'm not!" Hercules argued. Aurelia sighed.

"When you first met me you were as red as a tomato, sweating like a pig and stuttering like a broken record." Aurelia pointed out. "It was like that for a week, too."

Hercules frowned. "So what about it, 'Lia; not like it's a problem and if it is, my Snow will cover me."

Aurelia sighed and hit the boy on his messy black head. "OW!"

"You can't solve everything by being invisible, Hercules. I've been invisible my whole life, but I've always wanted to be seen; the thing about the Snow is that its users are also stuck in the cold. It's why even though we're invisible, we try to be close with others; so they can help us release the cold." Aurelia said. She tugged him up. "Come on, Narcissus said something about going to see some flowers."

"Flowers, wait, what?" Hercules asked.

"Apparently, it's a tradition here in Japan to go have a sakura viewing party when they're in full bloom. We're supposed to go wearing the custom Japanese clothing." Aurelia said. Hercules was grabbed by a butler and Aurelia was taken away by a maid to go and get dressed.

Hercules fidgeted in the clothes. He was still unused to having so much people helping him; the Atmosfera was so much more powerful and bigger than the Pesca. He was fitted into a kimono and he felt somewhat uncomfortable in the clothing. It was much more…breezy than what he was used to.

He was wearing a red one with orange goldfish on the bottom and sleeves. It somewhat reminded him of the Pesca; his past. He walked towards Xavier and Narcissus clumsily.

"Yo, you look spiffy." Narcissus noted. He was wearing an orange that faded into a darker color with a white sash.

"I'm not used to these…What, kimonos?" Hercules muttered. Narcissus let out a short laugh.

"These are yukatas; they're more casual and worn during the summer." Narcissus informed. "Where's Aurelia, by the way?"

"Still getting dressed, probably," Xavier said, yawning. He wore an indigo yukata with white snowflakes and a black sash. "Girl's yukatas take longer to put on; more parts you know? Not to mention she's got hair accessories too."

Hercules just noticed something. "H-Hey, why is my yukata different from you guys'?"

"Because they didn't have one in your size so we just got you a girls' yukata." Narcissus explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"What-Are you kidding me!?" Hercules shouted.

"Well you're tiny; Xavier here is three years younger than you, and he's more muscular than you." Narcissus pointed out. Hercules shook.

"So that gives you the right to get me a girls' yukata; that's no logic!" Hercules shouted out. "I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet, dammit!"

Aurelia giggled. Hercules turned to face her and she clicked the button of a camera. "Aw, his first visit to Japan, isn't that precious?"

"'Lia; what's this all about?!" Hercules shouted out as Xavier and Narcissus behind him began laughing.

"Relax, we're joking, we got you a guys' yukata, just go back and tell Simon that we got you; he'll change you into a guys' one." Aurelia said, patting his shoulder.

Hercules growled and attempted to growl at her back, but grew red and began to sweat. "W-Who t-the hell a-are you; what d-did you do with 'Lia?!"

Xavier began to laugh harder than before, clutching his gut and crying. "T-that's B-boss Lady!"

"What s-seriously, _that's _'Lia?" Hercules asked, pointing at the somewhat amused girl.

Hair that was black was pinned up and the grey tips were visible to all and dark eyeliner brought out pale eyes. A white yukata with pale blue snowflakes decorated her and looked nothing like the girl that, quite blatantly recruited him to be her Storm Guardian.

"Japan, huh?" Hercules muttered, running a hand through his hair. "They got really weird customs in Asia."

* * *

"So how was that, Hercules, you had fun?" Xavier laughed, gnawing on a chocolate banana with sprinkles. Hercules growled and struck the boy over the head.

"You shut up! Those girls were insane, they were always tackling me and going on about megane, or something, I don't even know!" Hercules growled out. "I swear every single one of them were crazy!"

"Hey at least you won a doll for the boss lady with your shooting skills!" Xavier said, pointing at the bunny Aurelia was holding. "She even got a lot of things too; who knew what a carnival fanatic she was!"

Aurelia held four goldfish in a bag due to catching the Medaka and she had a mask on the side of her face. She was nibbling on a chocolate banana similar to Xavier and she held several toys as well as water balloon yoyos.

Narcissus smiled as he held a fan and a bag of a single orange goldfish. "Relax, Hercules, they were complimenting you; megane is a way of saying you look cute with glasses in an otaku-ish way."

"I-I'm _not_ 'cute'." Hercules glared, turned red. Aurelia smiled.

"Aww, he's blushing, that's so adorable, megane-kun!"

"Shut up!" Hercules yelled out, glaring at Aurelia, who broke out in giggles.

"Hey at least you had a girl hanging off of you all the time." Xavier countered, "You should be happy."

"Well I'm not!"

Xavier and Narcissus looked at him blankly. "All of them were hot."

"They were crazy!"

Narcissus smirked at Xavier and gave a slight nod as if to say 'watch this'. "Well then are you gay?"

"No!" Hercules growled as Narcissus stalked over and wrapped an arm over the bespectacled boy's shoulders.

"Bi then; which is cool with me, bi the way," Narcissus said, breathing into the Storm's ear. Hercules turned red before punching Narcissus in the gut.

"I don't like dick, you fag!"

Aurelia and Xavier burst out laughing and Narcissus smiled as he ran away from the shouting Hercules.

* * *

"Sorella; come here and take a look!" Narcissus called out through the Atmosfera House. He turned back to his guest and smiled. "Don't worry, they'll like you."

"What is it, Narci?" Aurelia, ten, asked. Narcissus smiled greatly at his sister's cuteness and stepped aside, dragging his guest in; a tall nineteen-year-old with dark hair and grey eyes and skinny body, holding an empty guitar case.

"I found my Lightning Guardian. His name is Thomas Louie, a musician that can't find a job. But forget that; let's get him fed, huh?"

Thomas looked shocked as the thirteen year old boy who, not even ten minutes ago found him begging for food in a lot, asked him for his name, threw him over his shoulder and brought him over to this mansion. He was placed by the boy and his sister, who he did not even see until she spoke, in front of a table with a mess of other people with several kids as well.

"Oh, who's this, Narcissus?" The man at the head of the table asked. The boy, Narcissus, stood straight and smiled widely.

"Padre, this is Thomas Louie, I want him to be my Lightning Guardian."

Alexander smiled at his son's eagerness. "Well did you ask him about the position first?"

"I thought it would've been better to feed him first." Narcissus smiled at Thomas. Alexander nodded.

"A good choice, Narcissus, welcome Thomas, please eat your fill and we can talk about your position as my son's Lightning guardian."

"W-What," Thomas stuttered. "Is a Lightning guardian?"

Narcissus's sister smiled. "He's someone who protects and helps Narci. Kind of like a bodyguard, but a Guardian is family, so he's a lot more important."

"Family…?" Thomas repeated the word foreign on his tongue.

The girl nodded, but before he could ask more, food was brought out. He felt so out of place, dressed in rags, smelling like filth, and starved as a dog. He immediately dug in as soon as he could and sighed in bliss at the taste. He managed to eat his fill and there were enough for thirds still on the table.

"So, Thomas, can we hear about your past? We don't care how bad or dreadful it may have been; we'll listen." A man asked from next to Alexander.

"Uh… Well, let's see. I was an orphan and I grew up with these kids. They weren't all so right in the head but I tried to put it past them… We wanted to make a band; we practiced and we got lots of gigs too. We were pretty well off for beginners. But then, they were all arrested for drug trafficking. I didn't do anything, but I was taken in as a suspect anyway. By the time I was clear, I was too old for the orphanage and I couldn't get a job because of my record. I had to sell my guitar and I've lived as a beggar…" Thomas said sadly. Now that they knew his past, they probably weren't going to let him get the job; at least he got a meal out of it though…

Narcissus clapped his hands. "You like music? What kind?"

"…Rock and metal…" Thomas said, not knowing how the family would accept this.

"Wow!" Narcissus's sister smiled. "I love rock! The bands Thousand Foot Krutch, 3 Doors Down, Blue October, Dead By April, and Three Days Grace are amazing!"

Thomas felt his eyes widen and Narcissus smiled. "I'm a die-hard Slipknot fan."

A boy with red hair raised a hand. "Like the boss lady said, Thousand Foot Krutch and Dead By April is boss."

A boy with glasses next to him scoffed. "Blue October, Shinedown, and My Chemical Romance are the _Zeus_, then."

"Wanna fight?" The redhead asked with a smirk. "'_Megane-kun'"_

"You're a dead man walking Xavier!" The boy shouted, chasing the redhead, but a tiger—a white tiger—pounced on the boy with the glasses before leaping off his head on knocking Xavier down.

"OW!" The two chorused out. Narcissus's sister, pouted.

"Guys, don't wrestle at the table."

"You call this wrestling?!" The spectacled boy shouted out.

Alexander put a hand on Thomas's shoulder. "You'll fit right in, trust me."

* * *

"Mornin'," Hercules yawned, walking into the dining hall. Aurelia turned to greet him.

"Morning—who the hell are you?!" Aurelia shrieked out, holding a bladed war fan at his throat. The boy began panicking.

"'L-Lia, it's me!" He stuttered, pointing to himself, "Hercules!"

"No way, Hercules was short and scrawny and a megane!"

"Who the hell are you calling a megane!? Those girls were crazy!" Hercules shouted.

Xavier's egg fell from his mouth. "Hercules; is that you!?"

Narcissus shook his head. "Nah can't be. Go ahead and kill him, Sorella, he's an intruder."

"N-No, I'm not!"

"Then what was the drink Hercules spilled on me when I was eight?!" Aurelia questioned.

"Cranberry juice," Hercules responded. "Is it so surprising I hit my growth spurt?"

"Well…Yeah." Xavier muttered.

Hercules, who before was only 4'12 before somehow shot up to 5'5 after a week of visiting his family and coming home late last night. His black hair was as messy as always yet it seemed to grow and frame his face more. His shoulders also seemed to broaden in the one week he was gone.

Aurelia looked at him in shock before blinking. "You know…now that his growth spurt finally hit, he actually looks kind of attractive now…"

Narcissus seemed to grow devil horns and a tail. "What; Hercules, I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"Crap!"

"Wait!" Aurelia shouted. She picked something off of the table and walked up to Hercules, motioning him to bend down a little. He did so and Aurelia took the loose hair around his face and tied it into a small ponytail. She nodded. "Perfect."

Thomas blinked. "Does this happen a lot around here?"

David next to him nodded. "Yup, you get used to it though. But whatever you do, don't call Aurelia cute. The boss man will kill you in cold blood."

Thomas nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Get back here, Hercules; stop it with the Snow Flames!"

"Uh, Narci, you know he's right in front of you, right?"

"Where; I don't see him!"

* * *

A cry broke through the silence of the mansion. However, only a select few actually heard it. Aurelia ran towards the noise and slammed the door open. She found Xavier on his knees, holding his phone and shaking badly. "Xavier?"

"B-Boss l-lady…" Xavier sniffed. "V-Viper's M-MIA…"

"What," Aurelia said quietly. The Atmosfera have grown quite close to the illusionist, who one day, showed up an infant. Xavier didn't care; actually, he seemed to get closer to her, being one of the few people who have known Viper before the curse. The Arcobaleno usually hung around for freebies before and after tutoring. It was thanks to Viper that Xavier was now almost a B-Class illusionist.

But now, she was missing in action.

"B-But the mission was only a B level one…"

"There was an ambush, Aurelia." Xavier stuttered. "Considering all the men that were involved in the ambush, it would've been more appropriate as an S level. They're bodies were there, but not Viper's…"

Xavier only called her Aurelia when he was really upset or serious about something.

Aurelia pet her friend's back as he wept for his tutor. "Xavier… She's only missing in action. But you have to have faith in her. She's the strongest illusionist and psychic in the underworld, Viper. If you believed she was dead, she would fine you for not believing in her. Viper is alive. You have to think that, or her memory from her only student will be dead."

Xavier sniffed, showing he understood. He nodded and stood up, wiping his green eyes. "I'll make sure to make her proud."

"That's wonderful, you're a great person, Xavier, always remember that."

"So, since I'm such a great person," Xavier started. "Will you tell me how much the earring cost?"

"Wow, the weather sure is nice, I wonder if we can go to the pool today…"

"Don't avoid the subject!"

* * *

"No, its fine, I'll be alright in the States without you." Aurelia assured the dead-looking Xavier. "You go ahead with the search for Viper; just make sure you come home by the end of the week."

Xavier nodded and shuffled back to his room. Hercules walked past Xavier to Aurelia. "The tomato-head looked like shit."

"Well Viper was really close to him. Anyway, I'm going to the States, so I want you to take care of the house for me; I have to convince someone to teach me seduction."

Hercules blinked. "Narcissus is actually letting you?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Aurelia said, leaving. Hercules gulped.

"If he finds out that I knew, he'll choke me."

"As if he hasn't tried before," Aurelia pointed out blatantly.

"True."

"Little Miss, we gotta hurry!" Leo called out into the hall next to the two. "Where is she…?"

"We're right here." The two Snows pointed out. The Storm Guardian jumped.

"Sorry."

"Have a nice trip, 'Lia." Hercules said, "I'll try to get someone from the search to slip pills into Xavier's food to make sure he sleeps."

Aurelia gave a thumb up. "Atta boy, you're learning!"

Hercules sighed and ruffled the eleven year old's hair.

* * *

The lady that was supposed to give her lessons lived in a small Boston apartment and was a stubborn, yet beautiful former seductress.

"For the last time, no," The black-haired blue eyed beauty said, sighing. Aurelia nodded.

"I'll go out for some air; we seem to have been troubling you." Aurelia said, leaving. "I'll go buy some ice cream from the corner store."

Leo sighed. "Alright, little miss, be safe."

Aurelia found on her way to the convenience store that an alleyway was a quick way back. She walked through the alley with her bag of ice cream and was stopped when a somewhat shorter girl with scars on her neck stepped in front of her threateningly.

"Gimme your money," The girl barked out and Aurelia found her tone adequately threatening for a civilian. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, I'm just visiting a relative; who're you?" Aurelia asked. She was surprised that the girl in front of her could see her. Maybe she was a Snow Attribute also…

"Doesn't matter, just hand that over, I'm oh so hungry," The auburn haired girl barked out, jabbing a finger over at her bag.

"Nope; I paid for them."

"You—can't you understand I'm mugging you!? Hand it over!" The girl growled out, putting on a set of brass knuckles and jumping at her; which might've worked, had Aurelia not been a mafia heiress that's been taught pressure points since she was four.

Aurelia caught the girl after knocking her unconscious. She found she was extremely light and skinny behind her clothes. Looking back at the attack she used earlier, she also had strong arms and legs and she obviously did this often. She didn't bother staying hidden or silent, but she was naturally a Snow, Aurelia could see that as she didn't notice the girl until she was right in front of her.

Aurelia brought the girl back with her and sat in between Leo and Abigail, the former seductress, who were talking. "I'm back."

Both jumped in shock at the girl suddenly appearing right in front of the two with another girl. "Uh, yeah, she tried mugging me on the way here. I think she's got so Snow Flames, so can we take her back to Italy with us, Leo?"

Leo frowned. "You sound like you're asking to adopt a puppy."

"Well, can we?"

"Fine; now about those seduction classes…"

"Out, now." Abigail sighed. "I may be a bit rusty, but I'm not above using weaponry."

* * *

Luna sat up, rubbing her eyes. Last thing she remembered, she tried getting a meal…

"Oh, you're awake—'Lia, she's getting up!" A voice said. Luna looked up, shocked to see a black haired teen with glasses, calling down the hall. "She looks hungry and confused too!"

Luna only blinked, not understanding Italian. The girl she attempted to mug poked her head into the room and smiled before saying something in Italian.

Luna's eye twitched. "I don't speak whatever it is you're speaking."

The girl blinked before smiling. "Oh, right, sorry, Hercules, can you use English from now on around her?"

"Sure, 'Lia," Hercules said, yawning. "Let's go get breakfast; I'm sure your little friend here is hungry too."

"What's going on here," Luna growled out, "I don't know who you are, but I'm leaving!"

Lia smiled at her. "Don't leave; you won't get much far, anyway. I'm Aurelia, but Hercules here calls me 'Lia for short and another one of my friends, Xavier, who's not here right now, calls me Boss Lady, don't ask why. So what's your name?"

Hercules face met his palm. "You brought her here yet you don't even know her name? That's…so like you. I can see how you and Narcissus are related."

Aurelia shrugged and she turned to Luna, who was storming out of the admittedly comfy bed and out of the room. "Where're you going?"

"I'm getting out of here and away from both you freaks!" Luna growled, running out.

Hercules sat down. "How long until she finds out she's in Italy?"

Aurelia frowned. "It could take a while, her Snow Flames are pretty strong and I doubt people will react to her for a while, but her Sun Flames kind of counteract that I guess."

Hercules nodded and watched as Aurelia stood up and left to follow after the girl she intended to make her Sun.

* * *

Luna looked around in shock. None of the people here seemed to understand what she was saying and they were all speaking in that language Aurelia and Hercules used earlier. And the area was…cleaner than New York.

"No way… They took me to a different country…" Luna muttered in disbelief. She jumped as a hand offered ice cream. She looked up to see Aurelia.

"Here, you must be hungry. I could only grab a little bit of money before I left, but Paulo's gelato is the best." Aurelia said sitting down with gelato of her own.

"Gelato…?" Luna muttered looking at what she thought was ice cream.

"It's like the ice cream you Americans eat, but it's creamier and—just eat it, you'll see." Aurelia said, purring at her hazelnut gelato. Luna shrugged and ate it, as long as it was food, she didn't care.

At the first bite, it was decided that gelato was her new favorite food.

Luna bit back the moan of happiness that followed and Aurelia smiled. "Hey, so what's your—"

"Aurelia, Atmosfera heiress, prepare to die!" A man shouted out, loading a gun. Luna jumped and screamed while Aurelia whipped out a fan that threw knives upon being snapped open. The knives embedded themselves into the clothes of the man as he was pinned to a building. Aurelia then caught a bullet that the man shot at the two in the fan as people fled from them. Aurelia turned to Luna.

"Are you ok?" Aurelia asked Luna, clutching her arm.

"I should be asking you! You're arm, are you ok?!" Luna panicked, clutching Aurelia's arm. Aurelia took the blade of her fan and popped the bullet out.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but can you just help me stem the bleeding…?"

"Sure, sure, what was that guy!?" Luna asked, holding Aurelia's arm. Her Sun Flames were closing the wound, unknowingly.

"He was after me. I am the daughter of mafia boss of the Atmosfera Famiglia. Lots of people want me dead. I brought you here with me, to Italy because you have the strength to be more than living on the streets." Aurelia said, looking at Luna.

"What, but, I, I don't!"

"Yes, look." Aurelia said, pulling Luna's hand away from her arm and showing her the healed skin. "You hold the Sun Flames, which heal and activate, along with the Snow Flames, which camouflage and cover. They are flames used in the mafia, and only select few are born with the ability to use those flames."

Luna blinked as she looked at her hands. There was a slight yellow glow around them and some stars, which eventually faded.

"So, what's your name?"

"Luna. Luna Testa," Luna shivered.

* * *

Aurelia smiled, putting her clothes on the locker. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Luna. It's funny, your name means moon, but your flame is the Sun."

Luna nodded. "I don't really understand all that Flame stuff, but its nice being part of a…familia?"

"Close; familia is Spanish for family, in Italian, it's 'Famiglia'." Aurelia said. She noticed Luna cover her neck as they walked past a mirror to the hot spring pool.

"Hey, if we're in Italy, then why is there an Asian-style hot spring bath?" Luna asked. Aurelia smiled.

"We got it to annoy Hercules; he had a bad trip to Japan last year. He ended up getting called a megane and stuff. Believe it or not, he just turned all tall and broad-shouldered and hot a few months ago."

"We can hear you, 'Lia. Please, do go on." Hercules' voice called from the bamboo wall.

"He also gets compliments rarely since we like to pick on him so much so give toss him a bone every once in a while to keep him happy." Aurelia said.

"I'm not a dog, dammit!"

Aurelia and Luna giggled. They heard a few splashes then a growl. "I'll kill you, Hercules!"

Luna blinked. "Who was that?"

"My big brother, Narcissus; I don't think you met him yet since he was just out on a mission with his Guardians." Aurelia said. "Guys, I got my Sun Guardian, we'll introduce you to her once we're finished taking a bath."

"Oh, a girl; that's new," A deep voice said. Aurelia sighed.

"Stupid Thomas, I told you, drink something hot after your recordings, you'll lose your voice after screaming so much!" At Luna's lost expression, she explained. "Thomas is a part-time rock/metal singer."

"Really; a rock singer named Thomas?" Luna wondered.

"Well his stage name is what, Thunder?" Aurelia asked.

"Yeah," Thomas said. "Oh and I got a new haircut too, Aurelia."

Aurelia blinked. "What is it?"

"Half-Mohawk; the fans love it, especially the girls. Say stuff like how it's so badass and sexy."

Aurelia rolled her eyes as Axel yelled something about a water fight and wrestling and a mess of splashes. She looked at Luna and saw her looking at the scars on her body. Luna looked up and apologized for staring and Aurelia shook her head.

"No big deal." Aurelia said. "I got these from training with my fans and stuff." 'Like assassination attempts' were the unspoken words.

"Oh," Luna said.

"Well, it's only fair if you tell me about yours too right? I saw you cover them when we were walking past the mirror…" Aurelia said. Luna touched her neck.

"My stepdad beat me. He tried to poison me, but when that didn't work, he tried to burn my neck. I ran away after that." Luna said. "I'm sorry, at first I thought you were a spoiled rich kid that wanted to keep a street kid but… you have to deal with daily attempts on your life…"

Aurelia smiled. "They hardly ever see me. I kept my Snow Flames down on purpose so you could see me."

"Hey, I can see you two from here; who knew Aurelia was starting to get boobs?" Pierce said.

Aurelia frowned, and activated her Snow Flames, grabbing Luna and activating her flames as well.

"Hey, why disappear like that?!"

"Pierce, I'll kill you!" Narcissus howled.

* * *

"I hate you both, you know that right?" Xavier muttered into the webcam. "You bribed Jeffery to drug me so I would sleep?"

"You spent three days straight putting this search party up together, you needed the rest." Aurelia said bluntly. "And besides, how far are you?"

"Well, there's one thing I know." Xavier said happily. "Viper's alive. She sent someone to get some pay and gambled at a casino later; she won enough money to buy a small country."

Hercules nodded with pride. "That's our infantile illusionist; conning money and bagging cash like a boss."

"Oh, and I want to introduce you to my new Sun Guardian." Aurelia said, pulling Luna into the view of the camera, with a long scarf wrapped around her neck. "This is Luna; Luna, the redhead with the gold earring that I will never tell him the price of is Xavier, my Mist Guardian, and Right Hand Man."

"Wait, what, earring?" Luna asked. Aurelia leaned in to tell her the price of the jewelry and she gasped. "That's insane!"

"Tell me how much it cost, dammit, Boss Lady!" Xavier growled. Aurelia smiled. "Anyway, why's Luna wearing a scarf inside?"

"Scars I don't want to see." Luna said simply.

"But isn't it hot?" Xavier asked.

"It's actually pretty cold in here, so it's fine." Luna said. Aurelia pat Luna's shoulder.

"Don't worry; I'll get you some bandages when summer comes."

"Thanks, Aurelia." Luna smiled. "So these are all your Guardians?"

Aurelia nodded. "All that's left are my Rain, Cloud, and Lightning Guardians. Good luck looking for Viper, Xavier. Tell us when you find her."

Xavier nodded and waved. "Arrivederci, Boss Lady, Megane, Scarfy."

"Scarfy?" Luna asks as the window closed.

"Xavier gives people close to him nicknames," Hercules growled. "But I'm still gonna punch his face in when I see the little tomato head."

* * *

Aurelia brought Luna to the main hall to go out to town and patrol, but saw Hercules glaring profusely at a piece of paper and a red aura emitting from the boy. "Hercules, what's wrong?"

He held up the paper towards the two girls. Aurelia took it and read it in English. "We welcome the Atmosfera Famiglia to the inheritance of the Pesca for Sergio Princeton."

Hercules glared. "I can't _believe_ that my idiot of a father is giving the family to Sergio. Antonio is the best choice; he would be the turning of the Pesca. He could be one who will give the Pesca light. I _know_ it. Sergio is a dark sky but Antonio is the bright sky who can lead our family."

Luna blinked. "Are they going to give him the inheritance at all? You said once before that your father prefers his first and illegitimate son to you and Antonio, right?"

Hercules nodded. "The idiot really takes mother for granted. Once I was practically exiled from the Pesca, she left him for a month until he forced her back. But I will not go to see Sergio drag the Pesca deeper into the darkness of the Mafia."

Aurelia smiled. "Then we should tell him exactly that."

"Huh? How are you gonna do that?" Luna asked.

"It's going to be hard without your right hand man here to back you up, but we'll do our best."Hercules said.

* * *

"Antonio, there you are!" Hercules called out, moving towards his older brother with Luna and Aurelia following him, Luna gripping Aurelia's hand lightly as to not fall in her heels.

Antonio continued to look down at his hand sadly. Hercules walked up to the older boy and struck him over the head.

"OW! What was that for, Hercules?!" Antonio whined, rubbing his head. He saw his brother, whose height was almost reaching his own, with a straight back and a lighter expression than when he was part of the Pesca. "You seem to be better, Hercules, and hello Aurelia, who's your friend?"

"My Sun Guardian, Luna." Aurelia said, the auburn-haired girl tripping over her two feet and Hercules and Antonio both reaching out to catch the girl. Luna stumbled slightly and Aurelia held her up again. "She's not used to wearing heels."

"I see, thanks for taking care of my little brother." Antonio smiled.

"Who you calling little, idiot," Hercules growled out.

Antonio smiled. One could tell the two were brothers, both had the same face structure, hair color and eye color, but unlike his little brother, Antonio had more manageable hair and no glasses.

"Hey, but Antonio," Hercules started. "Are you ok? Getting skipped of the inheritance?"

Antonio smiled sadly. "Well, it's not my favorite thing in the world, but the old man thinks I'm too soft to run the family and would rather give it to Sergio or Damien first rather than me. But Sergio would probably drag the family deeper into the mafia and Damien would either bankrupt the family or turn it into a bad copy of the Carcassa, its dad's choice. But I guess I should be happy for them."

Hercules glared. "You're _too_ accepting and embracing, even for a sky."

Antonio laughed sheepishly. "O-Oh, really…But you seem to be doing better in the Atmosfera; look, you're talking back and speaking your mind now. You never did that when you were with us. I'm proud that you're doing so well, Hercules."

Hercules nodded. "But we're not going to let this go unsaid. Vongola and Cavallone have already broken ties with the Pesca. We're the only really influential family they have left. We're going to use that to our advantage."

"Hercules…" Antonio said, looking at his brother, who seemed to grow.

"Now we would like to thank everyone for coming to this inheritance ceremony! We would also like to give a special thanks to the Atmosfera Famiglia for attending this marvelous occasion!" The retiring fifth Pesca boss said.

Aurelia stood up. "That's what we attended for, and that is we will cut all ties with the Pesca if Sergio Princeton or Damien Princeton take the seat as sixth boss of the Pesca. We Atmosfera will only stay in alliance with the Pesca if Antonio Princeton takes the seat as the sixth boss."

The man stuttered. "B-But, Sergio is more suitable to be the head of the Pesca—"

"Sergio Princeton is a dark, corrupted Sky, who we will never stand side by side with." Aurelia said easily. "Now, if you excuse me, we must leave."

The three stood up to leave and the man pointed at Hercules. "Hercules; what are you doing, get back here, you ungrateful brat!"

Hercules turned and smiled. "You told me three years ago if I abandoned my post as the Atmosfera heiress's Storm Guardian, you would disown me. That was then; now, I stay with the Atmosfera because they gave me a family, one that I never had with the Pesca. I'm part of the Atmosfera now, and the Atmosfera won't stand with the Pesca. Ciao, Father." Hercules said, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Xavier pulled himself through the heavy double doors and slumped on the floor. "I'm home…"

"Xavier! Luna, Hercules, Xavier's back!" A familiar voice called out. "Look how tan you got; what were you looking in the desert!?"

Xavier felt himself getting picked up by Hercules and tossed onto his bed. "Ugh, search parties are hell…"

Aurelia giggled. "So what did you come up with?"

"Well," Xavier started. "Apparently, Viper got enough money and she affiliated herself with a family."

"Really, Viper affiliating with a group; I never thought _that_ would happen." Hercules said.

"Well, we didn't know what family, for a while, but then we asked Ranking Prince Fuuta, which family has the most income and in return we would safely escort him to Japan. He told us Vongola, and I supposed that Viper would do something like that."

Aurelia nodded. "But then, wouldn't we have gotten word about it?"

"Well, she probably affiliated herself with a branch of Vongola for spying or assassinations; they hardly let out information on those groups then. I didn't get to see her, but at least I know she's safe. I'm happy." Xavier mumbled. He looked up. "Ah, sorry Scarfy, I didn't really introduce myself that well. Xavier Bailey, right hand man of Aurelia White, Mist Guardian, and B-Class Illusionist, nice to meet you."

Luna smiled. "Nice to meet you too, Xavier."

* * *

Aurelia, now twelve, sighed. Xavier, who was also twelve, Luna, who just turned eleven and Hercules who was now fifteen were scattered around her.

It was now time for picking the annual maids and butlers. This was a very serious event as the maids and butlers had to show that they retained their fighting, cooking and cleaning along with fresh meat that had enough talent.

But, the four have decided, along with David, Thomas, Pierce, and Axel that Narcissus White desperately needed a girlfriend.

So now, they were looking through profiles to find a girl that could also be a significant other for the over-protective brother.

"What about candidate 32?" Luna asked. "Says here that she's a former member of a crime syndicate that took out the Lucia Family and released their prisoners and she also cleaned up the aftermath."

"You're kidding right? Look at her profile picture; Narcissus doesn't like sexy girls with big breasts. If they have big breasts, they have to pull it off in a cute way." Axel said, rolling his eyes. Hercules jumped for the picture and blinked.

"I say we hire her. What about me? Don't _I _need a girlfriend?"

"No offense pal, but I doubt her type is the tall scrawny glasses freak." David said, biting into a creampuff.

"Oh get bent; I'm not scrawny." Hercules said.

"Well I doubt she would pick you over the golden-haired, blue-eyed chunk of pure sex over here." David said simply, jabbing a thumb over at Axel.

"David, what's your sexuality?" Thomas asked, looking over the maids.

David shrugged. "I'm still a mist, gotta keep _some_ things in the dark."

Hercules and Pierce who were sitting next to him noticeably inched away from the fourteen year old.

Aurelia sighed. "Why do I feel like almost all the candidates are going to be former seductresses or something looking for an easy job?"

* * *

"Boss Lady, your foresight is kind of scary, I have to say." Xavier said, after the interview was closed. "Did we see anyone that was not stuffing their bra?"

"35's were real." Hercules said easily. "Trust me, I've seen my fair share of fakes and stuffers when I was with the Pesca but hers were real."

"U-Um, am I too late?" A voice asked carefully. A girl with long golden hair in twin braids and large green eyes poked her head into the room.

"Ah, 97; we thought your friend said you weren't coming?" Aurelia asked.

"N-No, actually, my dad doesn't want me to take this job so I was arguing with him until now. Can I take my interview?" The girl stepped through the door and wore knee high brown leather boots and a knee-length mismatch layered skirt with a long sleeved white blouse. Aurelia's trained eyes saw that this girl had knives hidden in her boots and another weapon, possibly a gun hidden in the layered skirt and strapped to her thigh.

Looking over at Hercules, who didn't show any interest in this girl, despite the fact her breasts were about a C hidden under the conservative clothing, she knew that this girl was perfect.

"What's your name?" Aurelia asked.

"Madeline Cage." The girl said. "I'm thirteen and I would like to be a live-in maid."

Aurelia smiled and gave a silent thumb up behind her back to show she liked the girl. "So why do you want the job?"

"Well, my mother and my little sister are living in bad conditions right now. My mom's been trying to get more jobs and my little sister is studying hard to get a better life than us."

"You know you'll be the youngest maid, are you alright with that?"

"Yes, it doesn't concern me as long as I can get enough money for my family."

Aurelia smiled. "And I see you are well equipped as well. You have two throwing knives in your boots along with a dagger perhaps under your blouse along with a gun strapped to your thigh, correct?" Aurelia asked. Madeline nodded.

"Yes. I've been attacked before. It's a safety measure, but if it bothers you, I'll throw them away before starting work." Madeline reassured.

"No need for that; the fact that you're carrying weapon actually makes us feel a lot safer and trusting of you." Aurelia smiled. "One last question: you will mostly be catering to my older brother, Narcissus White; do you have any problem with that?"

"Not at all," Madeline stated.

"But a warning; he loves cute things, so don't be scared if he suddenly starts hugging you." Aurelia said. Madeline nodded. Aurelia stood up and stretched. "Now that all that professional stuff is out of the way…"

Aurelia jumped up and tackled Madeline in a hug. "You're _so_ cute!"

Axel sighed. "Loving cute things is in their blood."

* * *

Madeline blinked. "So I'm basically the only live-in maid?"

Luna nodded while getting ready for the hot springs. "Yup; but this is better since you're the youngest and you pretty much fit in with our age group."

Aurelia scoffed. "Thomas is twenty-one."

"Well Thunder's hardly around since he's always recording."

"Recording," Madeline repeated. Aurelia nodded.

"The big guy from before, Thomas, he's the rock singer, Thunder that came out like two years ago." Aurelia explained. "We're always trying to get him to drink something hot after recording so he doesn't lose his voice." She heard a purr and looked down before smiling. "Looks like Ghiaccio joining in."

"That's a cute cat." Madeline said.

"Ah, tiger actually, but yeah I guess." Aurelia said, petting Ghiaccio as he entered the water with her.

"Aww, what, Boss Lady, the demon cat is coming in today?" Xavier groaned.

"You're only jealous because she'll hold a cat to her chest, but not you." Pierce said.

"Shut up! At least I can read!"

"It's not my fault I can't read; don't rub it in, tomato head!"

"Don't steal that, that's _my_ nickname for him, dammit!" Hercules growled out.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to steal your boyfriend's pet name—"

"Die!"

Aurelia giggled. "You get used to these idiots. They're family, though, so we got used to them pretty quick. Especially Narcissus, he acted like he knew them for years."

"Uh, I'm mainly going to be serving Narcissus right?" Madeline asked. Aurelia nodded.

"He ended up being chased for sex by nearly every maid so yeah… the reason we kind of picked you was that you seemed more conservative and sensible than the others." Luna smiled. "Narcissus is nothing like his name if you know him like we do. He's like a big brother to me and I just came here. He's really amazing."

"Nice to hear you say that, Luna!" A voice called from behind the wall. "So we got a new live-in maid; only thirteen, so I hear? That's impressive. I'll talk to you once we meet alright?"

Aurelia smiled later on as Narcissus looked at Madeline for a total of three seconds before hugging her saying she was adorable. This was going to work out wonderfully.

* * *

"I'm _still_ not that used to parties." Luna muttered after dancing with another boy from the Giegue. "Why do we have so many balls and parties and stuff?"

"Hey don't be so stiff about it," Hercules argued. "I met the Atmosfera at a party like this once. Spilled cranberry juice on Aurelia's white dress; best mistake I ever made. Who knows, maybe we can meet your prince charming here."

"I doubt it," Luna scoffed.

"Well 'Lia and tomato head seem to be having fun. I lost count of how many times 'Lia stepped on his feet, though." Hercules chuckled. "It's good blackmail."

Luna rolled her eyes until she saw a taller teen looking around the room. "Isn't that Antonio?"

Hercules blinked. "Oh yeah, it is. Hey, Antonio, over here,"

The older brother blinked and smiled before walking over to the two. "Geez, why is it I can never find you or any of your friends?"

"Family Secret, big bro," Hercules smiled. "If you can't see, 'Lia and tomato head are on the dance floor over there."

"Really, I don't see them."

"Focus harder, trust me, you'll find them." Hercules smiled. He watched his brother jump upon seeing them.

"Man what are they, ghosts!?"

"They've been called that a fair share of times." Hercules smiled. "Anyway, do me a favor and take Luna here to the dance floor; she was tripping over her own two feet from earlier when she was with Eugene."

Antonio smiled and went into a low bow. "May I please dance with you, Miss Testa?"

Luna bit her lip. "Fine,"

Hercules smiled and took a sip of punch and Narcissus pat him on the shoulder. "You love getting blackmail on everyone, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yup,"

Narcissus sighed. "I wonder if there's a Mist Flame in you, somewhere…"

Hercules shook his head. "Nope, but you might want to dance with Madeline before someone else takes her hand."

Narcissus only turned and intercepted Joe from the American Mafia from taking Madeline's hand and Hercules laughed.

* * *

"Ow, Boss Lady, can you please not step on my feet anymore?" Xavier asked.

"Trying not to," Aurelia sighed. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her father holding baby Nosaru of the Giglio Nero.

"Mind if we interrupt?" Alexander asked. Aurelia shook her head.

"Of course not, come here, Nosaru." Aurelia said, scooping the pink haired two-year-old and dancing away with him.

"Not exactly what I was expecting, but… Well, would you like to dance, Xavier?"

"Sure, Pops." Xavier said, dancing with his father-figure, much to the amusement of the other guests as he began to lead.

"I'm happy you became Aurelia's Mist Guardian. She never had another kid see her until she met you and for that I thank you. I'm sorry about you leaving your family, though…"

"No problem, Pops. Boss Lady's the same to me and my family didn't even know I was there after the first three years so it's not like they were missing anyone." Xavier smiled. "I'm happy to be a part of the Atmosfera."

"Haha, well I have some information considering a certain infantile tutor." Alexander smiled. Xavier perked up at this.

"Really; what is it?"

"Well, turns out Viper's in the Varia now and they just launched a coup d'état at the ninth, as you know." Alexander said. Xavier nodded.

"They probably paid her a whole lot of money for that. Anyway, I'm just glad she's alive." Xavier smiled.

Alexander nodded as he dipped the redhead, who let out a whoop, gaining much laughter from the others.

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you got us into this mess." Hercules hissed at Aurelia. "We're the _snow_; we're supposed to _not_ be seen. We took a mission making us dress as circus freaks and being seen, why?"

Aurelia smiled, juggling her knives once more. "I told you, we're not invisible, we blend in. So to blend in to capture mistreatment and sexual harassment in this circus, we have to blend in as performers. They won't question four more performers."

"I actually like this mission." Xavier smiled. "All I gotta do is walk around and trip on pie; I lucked out!"

"You only like it because you don't have to wear a wig, Mr. Redheaded Clown." Luna grumbled, attempting her acrobatic stances once more. Aurelia smiled.

"You're actually really good at this, Luna." Aurelia smiled.

"Well Sun Flame Users do normally have strong arms and legs." Hercules pointed out. "And most girls are pretty flexible, so it's no real surprise."

"Well, I don't see why you have a problem with it; you work with Storm Flames so you're pretty used to being careful." Aurelia said as Hercules practiced his fire movements once more. The boy yelped as he dropped the flames when a boy bumped into him.

"Oh sorry," the boy said before leaving, Hercules left in a blushing, sweaty, shaky mess. Aurelia sighed.

"Oh yeah, Hercules is totally useless around new people, I forgot." Aurelia muttered, to which Hercules glared.

"I am _not_ useless—Watch it!" Hercules yelped as one of Aurelia's knives slipped from her hands. The girl blinked.

"Oops, my fault," Aurelia said, picking it back up and juggling it. "You were saying?"

Xavier sighed and patted Hercules's shoulder. "Dude, just shut up and take it. It's less painful that way."

"So Aurelia," Luna started, "If there is mistreatment and sexual harassment what do we do?"

"Well we take out who's in charge, I guess. I bet it'll be the ringleader." Aurelia said, discreetly motioning towards the man in the top hat. "It'll be good to gain some inside help too… Wait here."

Aurelia moved back and fell straight onto a boy who was holding a whip for the animals. "Oh, sorry about that, my fault; I'm Danielle, by the way!"

The boy smiled a bit before ruffling her head. "No problem Danielle, I'm Jacobs. Funny, I don't think I've seen you that much before…"

"I get that a lot, you know, big circus and all; especially when working different acts. I'm with the knife crew." Aurelia said, smiling her 'I'm-just-a-normal-girl-not-a-mafia-princess' smile.

"I'm an animal tamer, hey good luck today—"

"You idiot; the seals should be over there!" The ringleader shouted at the stage crew.

"Geez, what crapped in his corn flakes?" Aurelia grumbled. Jacobs sighed.

"He's a bastard, isn't he?" Jacobs growled. "But he pays and we eat alright, so I guess its fine, but there are rumors floating around him that really piss me off."

"Like what? There are a lot of rumors, so you'll have to specify." Aurelia said.

"Tch, the bastard supposedly sleeps with the female performers. And they're a real nice bunch too. They're always coming and going though, so no one really knows about it."

"Well I'm not so close to the female performers myself, but I know that I don't have to be scared that they'll toss an axe my way if I say something wrong, you know? They're pretty good in my book. He really is scum if he does that."

"Yeah; hey we better hurry up before he-who-shall-not-be-named hears us." Jacobs laughed. "See you at the fire pit, Danielle!"

"Yeah, same to you, Jacobs," Aurelia called out, turning to the three. "That, boys and girl, is how you get information from the inside, like a pro."

Hercules sighed. "Narcissus would've killed that guy if he wasn't in Germany."

"Then Narcissus would've blown the cover; he would attract attention since he didn't have Snow Flames and siblings in a circus are bound to draw some attention." Aurelia said simply. "So, basically, he would've thrown the mission and I would have to kick his skinny ass."

Xavier laughed weakly. "So, wait, how's Hercules gonna do? He's terrible in front of crowds! Remember that one time we sent him to talk to the old man and his Guardians? He fainted five minutes in!"

"Well for a Storm, he is naturally timid and a tsundere, I'll admit that." Aurelia said blankly. Hercules glared.

"Hey!"

"Well we can't have him up and trip in the middle and if he looks nervous, he'll attract attention. So that's what Xavier's job here is." Aurelia said. "We go out in intervals, so when it's time for the fire users to go out, we'll use an illusion to cover Hercules and create a fake one while he hides until the show ends."

"Then why do I have to practice at all?!" Hercules growled out. Aurelia looked at him.

"Because Xavier's only a B-Class illusionist; there's no way he would be able to hold an illusion the entire mission. It's easier this way." Aurelia said blankly. Luna sighed.

"I really wish I went with Narcissus to Germany…" Luna sighed. Aurelia pat her head.

"I'll make you brownies later, just suck it up for now, Luna, it'll be done soon."

"Yeah, Scarfy, no problem—just be glad they let you wear the clown frills around your neck." Xavier comforted. Luna pouted.

"They're itchy…" Luna murmured.

**Did this because Stroller(Guest) wrote that he/she would love to read 60 pages of this to skip homework. I'm all for that, so here.**


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapter! Yeah, I'm not dead, but high school is killing me but I finally adjusted to the workload :) I'm working on Mafia Preschool next, but take this to please you for now.**

_"I cannot believe you got us into this mess." Hercules hissed at Aurelia. "We're the snow; we're supposed to not be seen. We took a mission making us dress as circus freaks and being seen, why?"_

_Aurelia smiled, juggling her knives once more. "I told you, we're not invisible, we blend in. So to blend in to capture mistreatment and sexual harassment in this circus, we have to blend in as performers. They won't question four more performers."_

_"I actually like this mission." Xavier smiled. "All I gotta do is walk around and trip on pie; I lucked out!"_

_"You only like it because you don't have to wear a wig, Mr. Redheaded Clown." Luna grumbled, attempting her acrobatic stances once more. Aurelia smiled._

_"You're actually really good at this, Luna." Aurelia smiled._

_"Well Sun Flame Users do normally have strong arms and legs." Hercules pointed out. "And most girls are pretty flexible, so it's no real surprise."_

_"Well, I don't see why you have a problem with it; you work with Storm Flames so you're pretty used to being careful." Aurelia said as Hercules practiced his fire movements once more. The boy yelped as he dropped the flames when a boy bumped into him._

_"Oh sorry," the boy said before leaving, Hercules left in a blushing, sweaty, shaky mess. Aurelia sighed._

_"Oh yeah, Hercules is totally useless around new people, I forgot." Aurelia muttered, to which Hercules glared._

_"I am not useless—Watch it!" Hercules yelped as one of Aurelia's knives slipped from her hands. The girl blinked._

_"Oops, my fault," Aurelia said, picking it back up and juggling it. "You were saying?"_

_Xavier sighed and patted Hercules's shoulder. "Dude, just shut up and take it. It's less painful that way."_

_"So Aurelia," Luna started, "If there is mistreatment and sexual harassment what do we do?"_

_"Well we take out who's in charge, I guess. I bet it'll be the ringleader." Aurelia said, discreetly motioning towards the man in the top hat. "It'll be good to gain some inside help too… Wait here."_

_Aurelia moved back and fell straight onto a boy who was holding a whip for the animals. "Oh, sorry about that, my fault; I'm Danielle, by the way!"_

_The boy smiled a bit before ruffling her head. "No problem Danielle, I'm Jacobs. Funny, I don't think I've seen you that much before…"_

_"I get that a lot, you know, big circus and all; especially when working different acts. I'm with the knife crew." Aurelia said, smiling her 'I'm-just-a-normal-girl-not-a-mafia-princess' smile._

_"I'm an animal tamer, hey good luck today—"_

_"You idiot; the seals should be over there!" The ringleader shouted at the stage crew._

_"Geez, what crapped in his corn flakes?" Aurelia grumbled. Jacobs sighed._

_"He's a bastard, isn't he?" Jacobs growled. "But he pays and we eat alright, so I guess its fine, but there are rumors floating around him that really piss me off."_

_"Like what? There are a lot of rumors, so you'll have to specify." Aurelia said._

_"Tch, the bastard supposedly sleeps with the female performers. And they're a real nice bunch too. They're always coming and going though, so no one really knows about it."_

_"Well I'm not so close to the female performers myself, but I know that I don't have to be scared that they'll toss an axe my way if I say something wrong, you know? They're pretty good in my book. He really is scum if he does that."_

_"Yeah; hey we better hurry up before he-who-shall-not-be-named hears us." Jacobs laughed. "See you at the fire pit, Danielle!"_

_"Yeah, same to you, Jacobs," Aurelia called out, turning to the three. "That, boys and girl, is how you get information from the inside, like a pro."_

_Hercules sighed. "Narcissus would've killed that guy if he wasn't in Germany."_

_"Then Narcissus would've blown the cover; he would attract attention since he didn't have Snow Flames and siblings in a circus are bound to draw some attention." Aurelia said simply. "So, basically, he would've thrown the mission and I would have to kick his skinny ass."_

_Xavier laughed weakly. "So, wait, how's Hercules gonna do? He's terrible in front of crowds! Remember that one time we sent him to talk to the old man and his Guardians? He fainted five minutes in!"_

_"Well for a Storm, he is naturally timid and a tsundere, I'll admit that." Aurelia said blankly. Hercules glared._

_"Hey!"_

_"Well we can't have him up and trip in the middle and if he looks nervous, he'll attract attention. So that's what Xavier's job here is." Aurelia said. "We go out in intervals, so when it's time for the fire users to go out, we'll use an illusion to cover Hercules and create a fake one while he hides until the show ends."_

_"Then why do I have to practice at all?!" Hercules growled out. Aurelia looked at him._

_"Because Xavier's only a B-Class illusionist; there's no way he would be able to hold an illusion the entire mission. It's easier this way." Aurelia said blankly. Luna sighed._

_"I really wish I went with Narcissus to Germany…" Luna sighed. Aurelia pat her head._

_"I'll make you brownies later, just suck it up for now, Luna, it'll be done soon."_

_"Yeah, Scarfy, no problem—just be glad they let you wear the clown frills around your neck." Xavier comforted. Luna pouted._

_"They're itchy…" Luna murmured._

_Xavier grumbled while dragging Hercules, in full nervous mode back to their cabin. "Stupid megane…"_

_Aurelia blinked. "What's wrong?"_

_"This one," Xavier said, jabbing a thumb at Hercules, who Luna was cooling down with water, "Ran into a female performer and got all red and stuttering again."_

_"Not my fault! I'm not good around new people!" Hercules cried out indignantly, dripping water from his hair and removing his contacts. "OW! Why do I have to wear these damned things? Glasses are much easier to take care of!"_

_Luna sighed. "Because, if you wear glasses but specialize in knife –throwing that's going to gain attention. No one in the entire circus wears glasses so it's going to stand out. You can pass them off as far-sightedness and wear the glasses around us, though."_

_Hercules dejectedly put his glasses on. There was a knock on their cabin and Aurelia blinked before turning to Xavier, the redhead shrugging. Aurelia opened the door and a tipsy Jacob greeted her._

_"Yo, Danielle," The brown-haired boy hiccupped, leaning on another boy with blonde hair who Aurelia recognized from the ticket counter. "Wanna come to the fire pit with your friends? The ringleader's happy 'bout the great reviews we got and he's giving out drinks!"_

_Aurelia smiled. "Sure, and who's this?"_

_The blonde dropped Jacobs in favor of making an over extravagant bow and handing a white rose from his sleeve. "I am George Hamilton von Theodore IV, mademoiselle, it's nice to meet you—"_

_George was interrupted as Jacobs kicked him in the gut, sober when he hit the floor. "What the hell, you piece of shat?!"_

_George glared. "Well I was busy introducing myself to a lady, Jacobs-"George then caught sight of Luna, "Why hello, miss, it's nice to see someone as beautiful as you, what with such beautifully flowing hair, like a stream of cascading auburn,"_

_George then somehow managed to produce a yellow rose and hand it to Luna in a flourish. Xavier and Hercules were pointedly ignored as George shoved past the both of them._

_"Uh, dude, so the fire pit, huh?" Xavier asked George. George looked at Xavier haughtily._

_"Why yes, the ringleader isn't being an arse for once." George smiled._

_Aurelia helped Jacobs up. She turned to the close-to-hyperventilating Hercules. "Wesley, let's go, relax, they're friends."_

_Hercules, alias Wesley, took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Alright, come on, Abby, tomato head."_

_Luna, alias Abby followed Aurelia and Hercules hurriedly. Aurelia looked at Xavier._

_"Coming, Jack?"_

_Xavier, alias Jack, shook his head and followed, sighing at George's (over extravagant, unnecessary) chivalry._

* * *

"So, I shit you not," Luna smirked. "There were like five of them, they were almost six feet tall and had about five to seven years older than me, it was almost midnight and we were in a dark alleyway—oh, and they had knives."

"So what'd you do? Scream?" Jacob asked.

Luna smirk widened. "As if; I beat them all up without a problem,"

"You _lie_," Jacob sneered, still in a drunken daze. Luna smirked challengingly.

"Wanna try me, elephant freak?"

"Hey, the elephants are amazing!"

"So," Xavier muttered to Aurelia, "Why do you think he can see her…?"

Aurelia blinked. "I'm not so sure. Maybe he has dormant Snow Flames. That or he's trying _very_ hard to pay attention to Lu-Abby."

"Shouldn't we tell her to quit flirting, and we have something to do?" Hercules muttered, before quickly backing up his question. "The trailers do have to get packed, after all."

Aurelia shrugged. "Leave her, Abby doesn't get much male attention, we can start without her. I'll get George to tell her where we went later."

Aurelia stood up and moved to behind the fire pit, where George went earlier. She noticed a trailer, where he must've went and reached up, knocking on the door before opening the door. "Hey, George—"

Aurelia froze. George turned around and smiled. "Ah, hello, Danielle. Ah, I'm sorry…I suppose I'm not very decent at the moment, huh?"

George reached up and wiped the blood off of his cheek, still smiling.

Aurelia shook and looked past George. A girl's body was lying, chained to the wall. Aurelia could taste the bile at the back of her throat. All she could do was choke out a violent serenade of curses before she ran out of the trailer and puked. She flared her Snow Flames violently, desperate to not be caught in George's sight. He walked out of the trailer calmly.

"Oh Danielle~ where are you, mademoiselle?..." George called out, holding a white rose, similar to the one he handed to 'Danielle' that same night. Aurelia clutched the white rose that she placed in her hair for safe keeping. The gift that seemed so sweet and chaste now felt like poison against her skin, an iron lead that was weighing her head down.

Or was this what fear felt like?

Aurelia had not felt fear for such a long time, since she was five, this intense to get through to her, to affect her like this. This atmosphere that George was emanating was nothing like the assassins that attempted to kill her daily; those were men who vied for a higher position in rank. George atmosphere was one of killing intent so cold, so powerful, the Snow felt threatened. George's atmosphere was like that of a crazed murderer who killed for pleasure, for satisfaction. Mafia men, however, killed for respect and dignity and acceptance.

Aurelia looked at George with fear as he looked in her direction but didn't see _her_. She shivered as he peered from under his long blonde eyelashes, purple eyes flashing dangerously, inspecting the area for sight of his next prey—her.

Aurelia managed to stand up and scurry past George, and into the trailer. She kneeled next to the girl and held her. "Are you alright?" She whispered.

The girl lifted her head, raising light blond—almost white—hair along with it. Her blue eyes had tears streaking down her cheeks and a pink rose on a wire that was wrapped tightly around her throat, blood caked around some parts.

"H-How could he do this…" The girl whispered. "I-I thought he loved me… _I _loved him…" She gasped, clutching her bleeding side. Aurelia clutched the girl's shoulder, her eyes turning from their foggy white-blue to a solid cerulean color.

"Don't worry, you're going to be okay, I promise," Aurelia said shaking. "You're going to walk out of here alive."

Aurelia held the girl, who smiled in her grasp.

"My name is Trish. Please take care of me."

She was beautiful.

Aurelia felt something splatter on her cheeks and arms.

Her grip loosened.

She felt her skin turn to ice.

Trish's beautiful blue eyes lost their gleam.

"My my, there you are, mademoiselle." George sighed. "She was so pretty, wasn't she? She was also so gentle and sweet, deserving a pink rose."

Aurelia looked up slowly, her blood turning to ice. She could feel her spine get chills.

She set Trish down, careful of the blade that now protruded from her head.

Aurelia could feel tears running down her cheeks as she looked from under her bangs at George.

"S-She loved you…" Aurelia said, barely over a whisper. "Y-You, h-how could you do that to her, y-you monster…"

George smiled. "I believe black roses are the most beautiful. Do you not believe so, Danielle?"

Aurelia shook. "You sick, sick _bastardi_… You charmed beautiful, innocent, pure girls and murdered them in cold blood… For what? The sake of giving them the black rose of death? People like you… People like you can hurry up and _die in the cold of the __**snow**_."

Aurelia glared up and snapped her fans in George's direction, her accuracy precise, the atmosphere shaping around her, giving George goose bumps. The blond ducked, rolled, then stood up straight.

"Hm, how strange…" George said, running his hands up and down his arms. "It feels cold for some reason… You're truly something special, aren't you, mademoiselle? What is your secret, eh, Danielle? I suppose I was right, giving you a white rose."

Aurelia closed her one fan to use it as a blade and snapped the other one towards George, who barely dodged, cutting a few choice hairs. Aurelia closed the second fan and made a powerful thrust to activate the poison gauge in it. She ran forward and began to slash at George.

"George, people like you… Are _unforgiveable_!" Aurelia hissed, attacking the teen who dodged.

"My, my, Danielle… You truly are something special. I would love to give you a very special rose…" George smiled, dodging the attacks.

"Don't underestimate me, dammit!" Aurelia hissed, slashing upwards, surprising George and slashing all the way up the left side of his face.

George stumbled back and leaned against the trailer door. He clutched the bleeding half of his face. Aurelia stabbed one of her blades next to his throat. A warning. She held the poison gauge to his throat, pinning him to the cold trailer door.

George smiled. "Let me ask you something, Danielle… Just who are you really, mademoiselle?"

Aurelia looked up and glared at George, her eyes as cold as ever, the atmosphere on pins and needles. "I am Aurelia, candidate for the Atmosfera Famiglia Ottava."

George smiled wider and caressed the petals of the rose on Aurelia's head lovingly. "Such a huge secret… And such a pure, heavenly person in the dark mafia… What a rarity."

Aurelia growled and pressed the poison gauge of her fan closer to his skin, right were the main artery pulsed.

"Boss Lady," A voice said, muffled from the other side of the door. "He's not worth it. Don't dirty your hands with him. He's scum."

Aurelia's grip faltered slightly, but she still kept the needle containing the poison at the skin of George's neck.

George continued to smile.

Aurelia pressed it closer.

"Aurelia," Xavier said from the other side of the door. "Please. For me. _Please don't_. Don't let me lose you to the dark, don't forget the power of your atmosphere."

Aurelia's eyes slowly, ever so slowly, turned back to their foggy blue-white. The pins and needles atmosphere turned into one of calm silence.

Faster than he could perceive, George was knocked out by a swift punch to a vulnerable pressure point.

* * *

Luna stood nearby the searched grounds of the circus, sobered up with the sight of Aurelia covered in blood. She kicked her legs back and forth guiltily while sitting on a boulder.

Jacobs walked over next to her. "Can I sit down next to you?"

Luna nodded. Jacobs sat and frowned. "So…What's your real name?"

"Luna Testa." Luna murmured. "Abby Gillian was my alias for this mission."

"So…" Jacobs began. "What are you guys? Spies? Detectives? A secret branch of the government that uses teens to infiltrate and take out the bad guy?"

"Nope. Mafioso." Luna sighed. "But, I never really lied. Everything I said was true. I did use to live in the States. Lived on the streets of Boston. Not one of my best moments. I mugged people, picked pockets and ate out of the trash. I was a dirty street rat. If I was there for another month in that cold, with the slowing amount of food I was getting, I probably would've starting selling myself."

Jacobs frowned. "I never said you were lying."

"Yes you did."

"That was just my drunken slur talking." Jacobs said, running a hand trough his hair and jumping. "But right now, I'm probably as dirty as you were."

Luna was about to protest when Jacobs took his hand out of his messy dark brown hair. He held his hand out to show Luna and she was surprised to find a cockroach squirming in his fingers before he quickly threw it away and shivered.

There was silence for about two seconds before the two broke into laughter.

"What can I say; in the circus, hygiene sucks!"

"That's what you get for working with stinking elephants all the time!"

Luna giggled and smiled nervously. "Sorry for having to trick you; you were our form of infiltration. Our gateway to this mission's success. Thank you, Jacobs."

Jacobs smiled. "Thanks, hah, Luna suits you better than Abby anyway, you know, 'cause of your eyes. They look like the moon. Sorry that my friend who we were all supposed to get along with was actually a psycho nut."

Luna smiled sadly. "No one knew, Jacobs."

"Well, that makes me feel better. By the way," Jacobs leaned closer to Luna, "My name is actually Dean. Jacobs is my last name."

Luna blinked, completely scarlet in the face when he pulled away and held a finger to his lips. "Shhh, it's a secret."

Luna scoffed. "Who the hell introduces themselves with their last name?"

"I like being mysterious," Dean defended. "I thought the ladies liked that stuff?"

"You know what the ladies like, Dean?" Luna giggled. "A guy who uses deodorant! Seriously, heard of it?"

"Hey, hey; it's hard enough wrestling the others for soap here, you try getting something as legendary as deodorant!" Dean chuckled.

"Luna!" Hercules called, walking over. "We're probably going to be leaving in a few hours, to investigate more thoroughly—there are"

Hercules saw Jacobs on the boulder, sitting next to Luna and blinked twice before turning. "Tell you later; don't do anything I wouldn't do, kid."

Luna blushed. "You're only four years older than me! Don't call me kid! And I'm eleven damn you Megane!"

"Shut up brat! You weren't there!" Hercules yelled back.

Luna huffed and pouted. Dean chuckled. "Well you guys seem close. It must be nice in a family, huh?"

Luna blinked. Then nodded with a wide smile. "I honestly don't know where the hell I would be without them."

Dean smiled. "I wish I had someone like that, but I'm just a loser, you know; my elephants are the closest thing I got."

Luna sighed. "That's not true."

"Well the only other guy I knew turned out to be a killer, so I'm not sure he counts…" Dean said smarmily.

Luna sighed. She felt something run across her back and nearly fell off the boulder. "The hell!?"

"Oh, Pipsqueak, there you are." Dean said, petting the large elephant. "Pipsqueak, meet Luna. Luna meet Pipsqueak."

Luna blinked at the large Indian Elephant that held out a trunk in her direction. She shook it and smiled.

"H-Hi Pipsqueak."

Pipsqueak let out a deep 'toot' in greeting.

"I was wondering where you went, good thing you didn't get put together with the other bulls." Dean said. He picked something out of his pocket. "Here you go."

"What're those?"

"Sugar cane. Pipsqueak loves 'em."

The elephant flapped his ears in confirmation.

Dean blinked. "Hey Luna?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm probably not going to be able to see after today, am I?"

Luna looked down sadly.

Dean grabbed her hand happily. "So come on!"

"Huh?"

"I'll take you for a ride on Pipsqueak," Dean smiled, climbing with Luna in tow to the highest point of the boulder. "Not many people get to ride an elephant. But don't worry; we'll see each other again. And when we do, I'll take you on a ride on Pipsqueak again."

Luna blinked as Dean helped her on to Pipsqueak's back. She felt the strange texture of the skin cautiously until Dean sat behind her and secured a grip on Pipsqueak's circus collar, securing her place.

"Alright Pipsqueak, let's go!"

* * *

Xavier walked out of the trailer he was staying in, carrying his and Aurelia's bags. He stopped short, seeing Adrian standing there.

"Hm? What's up, Adrian?"

"Xavier, let's have a chat. Right Hand from one generation to another."

"Does that mean Axel doesn't even have a chance?" Xavier asked teasingly. "I thought you didn't pick favorites."

"I've already had this conversation with Axel when he and Narcissus had to do a ransom mission in Germany."

Xavier froze.

Everybody in the Atmosfera knew that ransom mission. Narcissus and Axel went to Germany after some stupid Famiglia thought they would become big shots after kidnapping David, the most likely Eighth Mist Guardian. This was just before Pierce had joined their family.

The biggest part of the mission that made it famous was that two young boys, then only eleven years of age, had completely _massacred_ nearly twenty full grown men. All were injured, and several could never move again after that.

Rumor was that Narcissus might've killed all of them had Axel not been there.

"A Right Hand Man's job is to take care and keep the boss stable, strong and powerful, someone to lead. You helped Aurelia from collapsing and putting blood on her hands too early in her life today. That was the proper act as a Right Hand, Xavier. I'm proud of you." Adrian grabbed Xavier's shoulders in his large hands and squeezed like how a proud father might do.

"The boss has power, respect, and much stress. It's very easy for them to break. That's why we Right Hands must hold them up, make sure that they stay the great boss we serve and love. We must devote ourselves to taking care of our boss and making sure that nothing will hurt them. Not even themselves. Especially not themselves."

Xavier looked at Adrian. The man was smiling happily. "You're doing great, Xavier. Please look after Aurelia. I love her like she's my own blood. She is family. And so are you. I'm depending on you to make sure she doesn't break."

"I've already decided," Xavier started, green eyes gleaming, "Ever since she found me, invisible to the rest of the world, nothing, bringing me a family, a friend, a boss that I would protect her." He reached up and touched the single gold earring hanging from his left lobe. "You don't have to tell me anything about making sure she doesn't break. There's no way I would _ever _let _my_ Aurelia, _my_ Boss Lady, _my _Family, crumble right in front of me."

Xavier probably didn't notice it, but by this point, all that kept him from disappearing from Adrian's sight were his piercing green eyes and the monsters of various sizes and shapes forming, all based on his main illusion weapon, Curiosita.

Adrian smiled fondly at the boy who would soon grow into a man, who he has taken care of since the age of five.

* * *

Aurelia stood at the inside of the trailer. She felt Hercules's hand on her shoulder.

"You did your best, 'Lia."

"She still died, Hercules. She still died. And I was _holding her_. She died in my arms. Right after I promised her I would protect her. That she would walk out of there alive. She must've been in so much pain, Hercules. So much pain."

Hercules frowned and hugged Aurelia awkwardly.

"What're you doing?"

"Hugging you."

"It feels like you're trying to grope me with your elbows."

"Well geez! I'm not a touchy person, okay!" Hercules protested. "I don't hug a lot."

Aurelia smiled and turned around, embracing Hercules. "This is a hug. Not that awkward weird choke hold thing you just did."

"Yeah, yeah, screw you too." Hercules muttered. "W-We're gonna give her and all the other girls we found buried in the forest and in the river a proper burial. He's never going to be seeing sunlight again, Boss Lady. We charged him with the Vendice and their terms. S-So quit being so sad over this. A-According to the other circus people, she w-was a great person. S-She even smiled at you for at least t-trying to help her. S-She would be g-grateful that you're helping her r-receive a proper b-burial."

With every stutter, Hercules turned brighter. He wasn't exactly used to human contact.

Aurelia smiled and walked outside the trailer, Hercules following. "Thanks, Hercules. You're a great Guardian. But you're still terrible with girls."

"H-Hey! S-Shut up 'Lia!"

The atmosphere in the trailer, even as they left, seemed to be light and free.

* * *

"So, where's Scarfy?" Xavier asked, looking at Hercules and Aurelia.

"Last time I saw her, she was making kissy faces with that animal kid." Hercules shrugged.

"Hey, I'm right here, guys!" Luna shouted, waving her hand from atop Pipsqueak.

The three blinked.

"Xavier, is that—"

"No illusion, Boss Lady."

"Oh. Well, it's not the weirdest we've seen." Hercules muttered.

"True."

"Yeah."

**And FLUFF, FLUFF EVERYWHERE. but I had to. I freaking cried after I had to kill Trish. I actually _felt it_. You know that either a) you're a good author or b) a very emotional person when you kill a character and cry. Especially when you're writing it. I had to put the fluff in there to warm my hear after writing in such a _cold_ mood...**

**BUT HOMIGOD TRISH IM SOOOOO SORRRY!**

**And yeah, you're gonna see Dean Jacobs later on. Luna's gonna get to have another ride from Pipsqueak... Like... A couple of years in... But it goes fast, I swear.**

**I don't know why I'm writing all this fluffy crap. Probably just my lonely feels after my school's (late) v-day dance.**

**/cries**


End file.
